All autonomous vehicles articles
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FeatureŠkoda deploys autonomous robots at Kvasiny
Škoda Auto is deploying autonomous robots at its small parts warehouse at Kvasiny in the Czech Republic to work alongside its employees and make parts sorting and delivery more efficient. The use of the robots is part of the carmaker’s efforts to digitalise production processes under its 2025 Strategy, which ...
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FeatureA crisis in human capital
As the automotive logistics sector continues to automate and let technology take the lead, there are some important human factors to resolve if such plans are to succeed – as delegates at this year’s Automotive Logistics Global conference in Detroit found out While the US car market may be ...
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FeatureNavigating an uncertain future
The finished vehicle logistics sector needs to find better ways to communicate and collaborate to meet the challenges of an uncertain future, delegates at this year’s finished vehicle logistics north america conference in California were told in March. Marcus Williams reports The finished vehicle logistics industry may be facing a ...
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FeatureNavya chooses Michigan for its first US plant
French autonomous vehicle maker, Navya, has chosen the Ann Arbor area in southeast Michigan as the location of its first US assembly plant.Production is expected to begin in the final quarter of 2017 at the as yet unidentified location.The company says the decision on the Ann Arbor area builds on ...
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FeatureEurope conference: Live poll results
Live polling conducted at the Automotive Logistics Europe conference revealed that a third of delegates see implementing new technology and IT systems as their company's biggest challenge over the coming year and that reliability of service was the most sought after quality in a logistics service provider. Delegates at the ...
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FeatureTransition to automated trucks must be managed, warn trade bodies
The potentially devastating effect of autonomous vehicles on truck drivers’ jobs means the transition to the technology will need to be carefully managed, according to a new report.There are, however, obvious benefits to automated road freight, including cost savings and safer roads, according to the new report from the International ...
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FeatureYara and Kongsberg to launch autonomous electric container ship
Norwegian chemical and fertilizer producer Yara International has announced plans for the first all-electric, autonomous container ship.It is being developed in partnership with digital technology group, Kongsberg, and will ship products from Yara's Porsgrunn production plant to Brevik and Larvik in Norway.Named Yara Birkeland after the Norwegian scientist, Kristian Birkeland, ...
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FeatureEU truckmakers set out roadmap for platooning
European truck manufacturer body ACEA has provided a roadmap for EU-wide truck platooning calling for a wide range of regulatory change as well as upgrades to EU roads.Speaking at the European Parliament on May 9th, Erik Jonnaert, secretary general of ACEA, said the roadmap provided an overview of the steps ...
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FeatureIFOY Awards announced at Transport Logistics
The winners of the the International Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) Awards were announced on the opening night of this year's Transport Logistics trade show in Munich, Germany, this week at a special event held at BMW Welt, the carmaker's customer centre.This year, 11 machines from seven manufacturers made ...
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FeatureA back-to-the-future approach to connectivity
Resolving the connectivity required in tomorrow’s logistics networks is a challenge. But there’s no need to look to future technology on this score, as a highly appropriate solution is already in our hands. Neil Hamilton is VP business development at Thingstream, a division of mobile company Myriad GroupThe growth ...
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FeatureTrump’s campaigning ignores supply chain might
The president’s relentless criticism of trade terms and regulation often ignores some of the automotive industry’s most important developments for the futureSince his election victory, many have wondered about the extent to which Donald Trump, the president, would resemble Donald Trump, the presidential candidate. For the automotive industry and its ...
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FeatureFVL conference: Will big outbound visions ever happen in real-time?
The eighth annual Finished Vehicle Logistics North America conference discussed lots of potential for connected car and in-vehicle technology to transform transport and tracking. However, uncertainties over which technology to focus on, as well as regulatory and economic questions, may hold back important software and hardware updates. Marcus Williams reports ...
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FeatureVolvo Trucks demonstrates on-highway platooning in California
Volvo Trucks and the University of California, Berkeley have completed a partially automated truck platooning demonstration, hauling three containers on the interstate highway from the port of Los Angeles.Platooning reduces aerodynamic drag, fuel consumption and emissions by grouping trucks closely together along a given highway route. Reducing the distance between ...
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FeatureIntel shifts gear in driverless car market with Mobileye acquisition
Chipmaker Intel has made a massive push into the autonomous car sector with an agreement to buy driverless vehicle technology firm Mobileye for just over $15 billion.The acquisition of the Jerusalem-based technology company, which should be completed over the next nine months, gives Intel access to a vehicle systems, data ...
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FeatureAudi’s driverless transport system recognised with industry award
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has awarded Audi with the annual Logistics Award for 2017. The award was made in recognition of the German carmaker’s driverless vehicle transport system. More specifically a parking robot, nicknamed ‘Ray’, is able to sort up to 2,000 finished ...
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FeatureScania and Toyota start Singapore truck platooning trial
VW subsidiary Scania and Toyota are to conduct the first full-scale autonomous truck platooning operations in Singapore, in what has been described as the largest pilot project of its kind.The three-year pilot, work on which begins this month, will involve three autonomous trucks following a lead manned truck on public ...
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FeatureMercedes-Benz Vans to help trial autonomous delivery robots
Mercedes-Benz Vans has confirmed it will participate in a number of pilot projects in Europe this year to test the use ground-based, last-mile autonomous delivery robots with robot developer Starship Technologies.The OEM has been working with UK-based Starship Technologies since mid-2016 and together they introduced the idea of using a ...
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FeatureSelf-driving vehicles will do more than just reinvent road transport
Autonomous vehicles will do much for road safety but their benefits will extend far beyond this, with particular gains for businesses managing fleets of mobile service engineers...Self-driving vehicles are becoming increasingly popular, with some 10m projected to be hitting the road by 2020, according to BI Intelligence. The most compelling ...
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FeatureNissan initiates automated towing system at Oppama plant
Nissan has introduced an intelligent vehicle towing (IVT) system at its Oppama manufacturing plant in Japan that uses a modified, self-driving Leaf electric vehicle to pull a car-carrying trailer.Trials of the system began a year ago and over 1,600 test runs have been carried out since, the OEM has revealed.The ...
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FeaturePlatooning challenge showcases future of automotive logistics
Six European truck manufacturers have taken part in the 2016 European Truck Platooning Challenge.The challenge, run by the current president of the European Council, saw OEMs running autonomous and human-driven trucks to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from several European cities.The aim of the challenge was to highlight the potential benefits of ...