AUTONOMOUS CAR

Can You Dig It? Faraday Future Plots Course in Nevada

April 15, 2016 by admin 2 Comments

Upstart Chinese-backed electric vehicle maker breaks ground in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Faraday Future is an emerging US car manufacturing company with a plan to bring its first electric vehicle to the market faster than Tesla Motors. However, before they can do that, the company will need to build its first-ever factory.

This week, Faraday broke ground on a plot of land located a half hour north of downtown Las Vegas. A 2.5-million square foot plant will sit on approximately 600 acres in North Las Vegas’ Apex Industrial Park and eventually yield thousands of new jobs.

Chinese Billionaire Backing

Faraday follows Tesla in building a factory in the Silver State. Like Tesla, Faraday is receiving extensive financial backing from Nevada. Unlike Tesla, it doesn’t have an announced product yet or an official prototype. What it does have is the backing of one Jia Yueting, a 43-year-old Chinese billionaire and owner of Leshi TV, one of China’s most popular online videos sites.

On Wednesday, Faraday Future officials gathered with local and state dignitaries, including Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, to break ground on the company’s $1 billion desert investment. The state-of-the-art plant will utilize such innovative technologies as solar, wind, and geo-thermal energy to power the sprawling edifice. Furthermore, Faraday says it will be sourcing sustainable materials from Tier-1 suppliers the world over and incorporate these supplies within their vehicles.

Tom Wessner, VP of Global Supply Chain at Faraday Future (FF), left, Ding Lei, Co-founder, Global Vice Chairman at See Plan at LeEco, second, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval second right, and Dag Reckhorn, VP of Global Manufacturing at FF turn shovels at Faraday Future’s Ground Breaking Ceremony on Wednesday, April 13, 2016, in North Las Vegas.(Bizuayehu Tesfaye/AP Images for Faraday Future)

Fast-Tracked Development

The company says that its project is ambitious, one that would normally take four years to complete, but what they intend to finish in half the time. The plant is expected to yield the company’s flagship vehicle, based on a variable platform architecture that will give way to other models.

The modular electric vehicle platform makes it possible for Faraday to add or remove batteries as necessary and change the location of the engine, electric powertrain, the wheels, or most any internal part. As a result, Faraday claims they’ll be able to launch a vehicle faster than Tesla Motors and for a lower cost outlay.

Construction and Hiring

In about a month, construction is set to begin. The company already employs more than 750 people at its California facility and is expected to add 4,500 positions at the plant alone.

Those job openings are currently composed mainly of engineers for the company’s Automated Driving and Chassis Engineering divisions. Faraday is also looking for people to build out its Infotainment system, IT, supply chain, and vehicle safety systems.

Some of the openings are in Los Angeles while other positions will be on site in Nevada. The company has been actively hiring for more than a year, poaching some of Tesla’s brightest minds while also raiding other manufacturers.

FFZERO1 Concept

Although Faraday Future hasn’t announced a product or shown a prototype yet, it has taken the wraps off a concept vehicle, dubbed the FFZERO1 Concept.

Described by Car & Driver as a single-seat, doorless super car, the FFZERO1 concept was teased at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, what the company says is a 1,000-horsepower autonomous car with a top speed of 200 mph and a 0-to-60 mph time of under three seconds.

Powered by four quad motors, the concept is composed of carbon fiber and lightweight composite construction with an advanced high-performance suspension. Faraday says its aero tunnel design reduces battery cooling and drag accordingly. Inside, the FFZERO1 concept provides a fully-connected environment (at least on paper) with viral and head-up displays.

Few, however, believe that the FFZERO1 concept will be anything like the vehicle Faraday might bring into production. Instead, it may simply serve as a delicious attention getter for the world’s newest automotive manufacturer.

If Faraday pulls it off, the future of automotive engineering and technology may be influenced by one of the unlikeliest of all manufacturers.

Photo courtesy of Faraday Future.

Apple’s Project Titan Autonomous Car

August 19, 2015 by admin 1 Comment

From the rumor files.

Computer and consumer electronics authority Apple Inc. has its eyes intently focused on the automotive industry. And not just through its Apple CarPlay initiative, what works with the telematics systems found in select new cars.

Automobile by Apple: iCar?

No, Apple wants to manufacture the car itself and those rumors are hardly new. Indeed, earlier this year the scuttlebutt had Apple purchasing Tesla Motors, a report that has since been dismissed. At the same time Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has said that he welcomes the competition, believing that Apple’s entry would provide a “broader consumer acceptance of electric vehicles.”

Why would Apple manifest interest in building cars, especially since it would enter an industry where it has no experience? There are a few reasons for this, including two that should be examined.

First, Google is jumping in. Google and Apple are arch rivals and are currently battling each other to gain access to influence in-cabin telematics systems. Just as Apple’s CarPlay is rolling out throughout the auto industry, Google’s Android Auto is doing likewise. There’s a lot be gained by banding together with car manufacturers. And, by the way, Google is already working on its own autonomous vehicle. Apple wants in and they are not about to allow Google to win the day without putting up a valiant effort.

Second, market convergence is here. Cars are computers and computers are in cars. The marriage of cars and computers has been underway for two decades now as in-car computers essentially control your vehicle. Car manufacturers need technology to help them build autonomous vehicles, something Apple, Google and others are flaunting their expertise. If you want vehicles to talk with each other, then a system has to be in place that permits this. Once driverless vehicles are approved for everyday use, the market convergence will be complete. Complete, but still in its infancy.

Let’s Call it Project Titan

Project Titan will go far beyond Apple CarPlay.

Apple’s new car initiative has a name, dubbed Project Titan. AppleInsider reported on the project this past March, uncovering a secret facility just minutes away from the company’s Cupertino, California, headquarters. That news followed earlier reports that Apple was luring engineers from Tesla Motors and other manufacturers to launch the project. Furthermore, a Sunnyvale location was identified and a sprawling “repair garage” is just one component in that complex.

Project Titan is an appropriate name, but it should not be confused with the Nissan pickup truck bearing the Titan name. But just as Titan in Greek mythology represented one of a family of giants, the Apple car is an enormous initiative much in the same way that the first Mac and iPhones also were. Steve Jobs may have died, but the desire to innovate lives on in Apple Inc.

California Track Time

Project Titan, however, appears much larger than the Sunnyvale location. Just this week, The Guardian (UK) newspaper claimed that it obtained correspondence confirming Apple’s agendum. The periodical says that Apple’s engineers recently met with officials from GoMentum Station, what composes a 2,100-acre former naval weapons base near San Francisco.

That garrison may be leased by Apple and used as the proving ground for an autonomous vehicle. It would be the ideal place too as it is composed of some 20 miles of urban streets and highways, an ideal arrangement for testing driverless cars. The Guardian noted that both Honda and Mercedes-Benz have tested their own self-driving vehicles, a secured facility surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by security teams.

Automotive Manufacturers and Driverless Technology

While Project Titan may be what Apple has in mind, it still might want to consider what other manufacturers are doing. The Volkswagen Group, Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and a handful of undisclosed manufacturers are heavily invested in autonomous technology and could assist Apple in its endeavor.

Then again, Apple is used to hatching its products in house and delivering them to customers with overwhelming acclaim. That’s a tall order for Project Titan, but it appears that Apple isn’t shrinking from this titanic enterprise.

Photo copyright Apple Inc.

Autonomous Driving: Ford Collaborates With MIT, Stanford

January 23, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

Moving forward with autonomous driving research.

The Ford Motor Company is working with a pair of university partners as it commits to advancing its research on autonomous driving. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be handling scenario planning in an effort to forecast the actions of other vehicles and pedestrians. Stanford University researchers will help Ford learn how a vehicle might maneuver to permit its sensors to look around obstacles. Both projects are part of Fords Blueprint for Mobility initiative that looks beyond 2025 to see where autonomous driving and advanced technologies might impact transportation.

Autonomous Driving: Ford Fusion Hybrid

A team of Ford Fusion Hybrids outfitted with autonomous equipment.

Autonomous Driving Projects

Ford’s latest technology announcement follows and builds on its automated Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle that rolled out last month. Automated driving falls under Fords mobility blueprint, what will help the automaker determine the business models and partnerships it will need to reach its goals. The automaker anticipates that it will need to collaborate with many new partners across the public and private sectors, something it intends to begin immediately with the help of its academic partners.

Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and Vice President, Ford research and innovation said, “Working with university partners like MIT and Stanford enables us to address some of the longer-term challenges surrounding automated driving while exploring more near-term solutions for delivering an even safer and more efficient driving experience.”

The Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle is based on technologies the automaker uses today and makes available to its customers. It then added four LIght Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) sensors to produce a 3D map of the vehicles surroundings in actual time.

Autonomous Driving: Ford Fusion Hybrid

The University of Michigan and State Farm are also partnering with Ford.

MIT Partnership

Ford’s research with MIT will use advanced algorithms to determine where other vehicles and pedestrians might be in the future. It will build on existing LiDAR technology that is able to sense objects around the vehicle. The goal for Ford-MIT is to enhance the technology’s ability to map out a pathway that will safely avoid pedestrians, vehicles and other moving objects.

Stanford Partnership

Fords research with Stanford will examine how sensors might look around obstacles. The automaker builds on existing driver behavior such as when a large obstacle like a city bus blocks the drivers view. In such situations the driver might move around in the lane in a bid to get a clearer view. Working in similar fashion, Ford-Stanford are seeking ways for the sensors to mimic driver behavior and take evasive action as required. For instance, if the city bus ahead of the car suddenly braked, the autonomous vehicles sensors would scan the area to determine if it could quickly and safely make a lane change.

Autonomous Driving: LiDAR

Ford has tapped Velodyne for its LiDAR technology.

If it sounds as if the university researchers are attempting to inject some common sense into autonomous vehicle technology, youd be correct. Indeed, just as drivers have a sense for what is going around them while on the road and what actions to take, Ford and its research partners are seeking to attain similar intuitiveness with its autonomous vehicles.

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Photos courtesy of the Ford Motor Company.

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