On Semiconductor’s image-sensing and lidar technologies are part of AutoX’s RoboTaxi Gen5 self-driving platform, the chipmaker told the World Artificial Intelligence Conference Thursday. On’s AR0820AT eight-megapixel image sensor enables high-resolution camera fusion with other sensors, important in dense urban scenarios where a wide field of view is needed to capture objects on sidewalks or cross traffic, said AutoX CEO Jianxiong Xiao. Twenty-eight AR0820AT chips extend the sensing distance to beyond 300 meters, enabling autonomy at freeway speeds, Xiao said. Four On lidar sensors give RoboTaxi a full surround view, said the company.

T-Mobile is partnering with driverless car company Halo in Las Vegas, using the carrier’s 5G network. A customer orders the car, which shows up without a driver, for travel to a destination, said the companies Thursday. Halo has operated on the T-Mobile 5G network since it began driving on public Las Vegas roads earlier this year, they said.

Autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai began daily testing of fully driverless vehicles on public roads in Fremont and Milpitas, California, it said Wednesday. The company received a permit from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles for six driverless vehicles that have operational coverage over 100 square kilometers. Pony.ai worked with Fremont to provide meal kit delivery to vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. It's also testing fully driverless vehicles in Guangzhou, China.

Walmart invested in a fleet of self-driving cars to help develop last-mile delivery that’s “fast, low-cost and scalable,” blogged Walmart U.S. President John Furner Thursday. It’s not a question of if autonomous vehicles will play a role in retail delivery, but when, said the executive. Walmart began working with San Francisco-based Cruise in November, developing a delivery pilot in Scottsdale, Arizona, based on the firm's all-electric AVs. The fleet, using 100% renewable energy, is a “natural partner” for Walmart’s goals targeting zero emissions by 2040 and to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2035.

Domino’s isn’t releasing specific days and times of operation for its autonomous driving delivery test program that began this week (see 2104120040) in Houston so it won’t “skew the test,” a company spokesperson said. The pilot program doesn’t have a formal end date, but the company hopes to expand self-driving deliveries throughout the Houston area, where Nuro has a “team on the ground” and Domino’s has corporate-owned stores, she said. On plans for expansion outside of Houston, she said the company hopes to gather “as many learnings from this initial round of Nuro testing, which could result in new questions or help us refine processes for future testing.” Domino’s delivery fees vary by store, with the fee from the store with AV delivery at $3.35, she said. Though the Nuro R2 robot is capable of delivering several orders in a single run, it's making one Domino’s delivery at a time “to ensure the best customer experience.”

Select customers in Houston can have a Domino’s pizza delivered by autonomous vehicle beginning this week, said the pizza chain Monday. The Domino’s location in Woodland Heights is testing pizza delivery on certain days and times via Nuro’s R2 robot vehicle to customers who choose that option. To use the service, customers place a prepaid order and choose delivery by R2. They will get text alerts with updates on the robot’s location and a PIN to retrieve the order. They can also track the vehicle by GPS on the order page. When it arrives, customers key in the PIN on the bot’s touch screen, and the door opens to give access to the pizza box, Domino’s said. "There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino’s chief innovation officer. The Houston program will allow the company to understand how customers respond to the deliveries, “how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations,” he said. Nuro says R2 is the first fully autonomous, occupantless on-road delivery vehicle with regulatory approval by the Department of Transportation. Domino's didn't respond to questions.

Udelv and Intel subsidiary Mobileye bowed a self-driving system Monday for commercial fleet leasing and management companies, with the first preorder of 1,000 Transporters announced by Donlen. Mobileye Drive is the autonomous driver technology behind Udelv’s Transporter. Mobile and Udelv plan to produce more than 35,000 Transporters by 2028, with commercial operations beginning in 2023. “COVID-19 has accelerated demand for autonomous goods delivery,” said Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua. Last-mile delivery is the most expensive part of distribution, at 53% of the overall cost of goods, added Udelv, and consumers are buying more goods online. That's expected to raise urban last-mile delivery volume by 75%-80% by 2030. A driver shortage is making it difficult for companies to keep pace, it said.

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology company Insight LiDAR said Friday its Insight 1600 system is the first gesture-sensing technology for AV lidar systems. The capability can be used by AV perception teams to quickly and accurately predict pedestrian actions, it said. “If a pedestrian looks both ways at an intersection, drivers understand that that person intends to cross the street,” said Insight LiDAR Vice President Chris Wood, noting that detecting subtle pedestrian movements that convey intent is an important safety capability that has eluded AV developers until now. The technology is based on frequency modulated continuous wave lidar sensing, which uses a low-power continuous wave of light instead of high-power laser pulses to sense its environment. That makes it more sensitive than traditional lidar, allowing AVs to see objects much farther away, said the company.

Qualcomm and Great Wall Motor announced a working relationship in autonomous driving based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride platform. GWM plans to build its Coffee Intelligence system into premium production vehicles beginning in 2022. The companies’ relationship will accelerate commercialization of autonomous driving and delivery of new driving experiences, they said Wednesday. The Snapdragon Ride platform is built on scalable and modular heterogeneous multi-core CPUs, artificial intelligence and computer vision engines, and graphics processors to support multiple segments of autonomous driving, Qualcomm said. With this platform, “GWM will be able to offer comprehensive multi-segment capabilities in our future vehicles,” such as driver assistance systems and high-level autonomous driving, said Kai Zhang, GWM’s head-intelligent driving.

The Department of Transportation has identified most of the oversight skills the agency’s workforce needs to regulate self-driving cars and other automated technologies, but hasn’t “fully assessed whether its workforce has these skills,” reported GAO Friday. “DOT did not survey staff or assess skill gaps in data analysis or cybersecurity positions important to automated technology oversight.” The agency therefore lacks “critical information needed to identify skill gaps and ensure key relevant staff are equipped to oversee the safety of these technologies now and in the future,” said the auditor. DOT agrees with GAO recommendations that it should “regularly measure progress toward closing skill gaps,” but thinks its current program of doing skills assessments every three years is “sufficient,” said the agency. GAO recommended annual assessments. DOT promised a “detailed response” to GAO's recommendations within 180 days.