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Trucks Catch Up In The Self-driving Vehicle Race

2022-01-17T09:16:24Z

DeanneBrunner: Created page with " By Nick Carey and Paul Lienert OXFORD, England, Dec 9 (Reuters) - We'd all be whizzing round in robotaxis by now if Elon Musk had been right. Instead, full..."

By Nick Carey and Paul Lienert OXFORD, England, Dec 9 (Reuters) - We'd all be whizzing round in robotaxis by now if Elon Musk had been right. Instead, fully self-driving cars are struggling to get away from the starting grid and [http://gazetablic.com/new/devdutt_padikkal_2.html web page] some investors are betting that driverless trucks will reach the checkered flag first. Only a year ago, startups developing robotaxis were pulling in eight times more funding than firms working on autonomous trucks, buses and logistics vehicles, but the gap has narrowed dramatically in 2021. With fewer regulatory and technological hurdles, trucks operating on major highways, fixed delivery routes or in environments far from cyclists and pedestrians such as mines and ports are now being seen as a faster way to generate returns. In the year through Dec. 6, total investment activity for self-driving logistics vehicles leapt fivefold to $6.5 billion from $1.3 billion in the same period in 2020, according to startup data platform PitchBook. Investment activity for robotaxi firms website meanwhile, fell 22% to $8.4 billion from $10.8 billion over the same period, the PitchBook data compiled for Reuters shows. The numbers may even understate the trend as some robotaxi firms such as Alphabet Inc's Waymo are pumping more cash into their own autonomous trucking operations as well. In the latest trucking deal, Robotic Research said on Thursday it has raised $228 million by tapping outside investors for the first time to expand its autonomous trucks, buses and logistics vehicles business. The new money comes from investors including SoftBank's Vision Fund 2, Enlightenment Capital and Luminar Technologies, which makes lidar sensors used in self-driving cars. Robotic Research Chief Executive Alberto Lacaze told Reuters the company was deploying autonomous vehicles at scale where the business case works for customers "right now." "They don't have to wait until 2025, unlike robotaxis where you need to have the cost of all the sensors come down by an order of magnitude," he said. OVERPROMISES As recently as 2019, Tesla's Musk had promised a million robotaxis "next year for sure," but self-driving cars that can navigate safely anywhere are still a long way off. Peter Rawlinson, head of electric vehicle (EV) startup Lucid Motors, said last month it would be a decade website before fleets of robotaxis hit the roads - even with the most advanced sensors. PitchBook's lead mobility analyst Asad Hussain said startups such as Gatik, which makes autonomous short-haul vans, and Nuro with its mini delivery robots, could eclipse Waymo and rival Cruise over the next few years in commercializing at scale. Still, while long-haul trucks are easier to automate than robotaxis because major highways are simpler environments than bustling city roads, self-driving truck company executives are cautious about how fast they can ramp up. "We're very cognizant of the overpromises that the industry has made," said Cheng Lu, chief executive of self-driving truck technology company TuSimple, which went public in April with a market value of $8.5 billion. "The industry understands the complexity of the problem now and that solving it will take a longer time," he said. For now, TuSimple has a fleet of about 50 trucks with safety drivers aboard crisscrossing America's warmer southern states, but it plans to have a national network covering major U.S. highways by 2024. That will involve major investments in mapping highways, learning how to handle tougher weather and road conditions further north and in new self-driving trucks being developed by Navistar, which is part of Volkswagen's Traton. 'A LONG JOURNEY' But rolling out a truly national network could take years as self-driving trucks still face a major challenge: human drivers. An autonomous vehicle will always hit the brakes if it encounters a "testosterone-laden human male," said Ralf Klaedtke, chief technology officer at TE Connectivity, which makes sensors and electronic systems to handle masses of self-driving data for the auto industry. "The autonomous vehicle will always be the slowest in mixed traffic," he said. Paul Newman, founder of British autonomous vehicle software startup Oxbotica, says robotaxis remained his "North Star," his clear long-term goal. But for now he is focusing on simpler applications, some of which use a purpose-built, fully-electric self-driving vehicle from Australian startup Applied EV. "This is a long journey," he says while showing off test vehicles at the company's headquarters in Oxford in England. "It's one of the hardest engineering problems to solve." Oxbotica is working on vehicles for mines in partnership with Wenco, part of Hitachi Construction Machinery, and on many different options with energy company BP, such as vehicles for remote wind and solar farms. Morag Watson, BP's senior vice president for digital science and engineering, said Oxbotica's technology could monitor large sites, or haul equipment out to humans undertaking repairs. She said they would be testing many different options in 2022. "We've barely scratched the surface of what we can do with industrial autonomy," Watson said. Oxbotica is also working with British online food delivery and technology company Ocado which automates supply chain systems for the likes of U.S. retail chain Kroger. BP and Ocado have both invested in Oxbotica. Alex Harvey, Ocado's head of advanced technology, said Oxbotica's technology could be used "in the warehouse, in the yard, on the road, or kerb to kitchen." NO LEFT TURNS! U.S. autonomous EV maker Outrider has targeted distribution yards - picking up trailers after truckers drop them off and lining up new ones to be hauled away [https://www.houzz.com/photos/query/-%20including - including] at a Chicago yard for paper company Georgia-Pacific. Outrider has developed a robot arm for the truck to connect and disconnect trailers. It has raised $118 million so far and Chief Executive Andrew Smith says it will scale up to thousands of vehicles over the next five years. The startup wants to start doing short hops between yards but operating on public roads adds complexity, Smith said. "We saw through the early hype of the technology and recognized distribution yards were the perfect near-term solution with their repetitive, low-speed operations in confined environments," he said. Going out on public roads requires moving carefully, partly because of regulations, but also because of legal pitfalls in a litigious market such as the United States. Ian White, chief executive of digital insurer Koffie Labs, said a "black swan billion dollar" crash could wipe out any company that moves too fast and gets it wrong. "You'd be putting your balance sheet on the line," he said. That's why Gatik has opted for a careful approach for its "middle-mile" delivery routes between distribution centers and retailers, Chief Executive Gautam Narang said. Gatik's trucks run on short, predictable routes avoiding left turns across oncoming traffic, schools, hospitals, fire stations, blind turns - or anything complicated. "We're not working on every tricky situation the autonomous vehicle industry is trying to solve," he said. "We're taking baby steps using routes that are uneventful from a complexity standpoint." Gatik works with Walmart Inc and Loblaw Companies Ltd using autonomous trucks with safety drivers, though it operates some driverless routes in Arkansas and sees the global shortage of drivers as an opportunity. "We decided to focus on a simpler use case where the need was very acute," Narang said. "We're not building the technology for technology's sake." (Reporting by Nick Carey in Oxford and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by David Clarke)

REVEALED: Clubs Accused Of Exploiting Fans After Cryptocurrency Deals

2022-01-14T00:06:38Z

DeanneBrunner: Created page with "sides have been accused of exploiting fan loyalty after a Mail on Sunday survey found that all but three clubs have signed commercial deals with cryptocurrency companies. S..."

sides have been accused of exploiting fan loyalty after a Mail on Sunday survey found that all but three clubs have signed commercial deals with cryptocurrency companies. Seventeen of the Premier League's 20 clubs have one or more commercial deals with companies operating in the cryptocurrency sector, despite grave concerns about the exploitation of fans and potential crypto fraud. Campaign groups criticised sides for seeking to monetise their interaction with supporters through tie-ups with 'fan token' firms, who sell digital currency in return for a role in minor club decisions. Industry experts added that these commercial deals could replace football clubs' hugely lucrative relationship with gambling companies if the Government's proposed ban on betting advertising comes into effect. Fans of Southampton and Leeds have protested in recent times at mooted crypto deals RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share 'Crypto-based fan token partnerships are either trying to monetise trivial matters that could easily be solved with online polls of season ticket holders, or inserting financial barriers into genuine supporter engagement,' a spokesman for the Football Supporters Association said. 'Neither is a good look.' Manchester City were forced to suspend a deal with a crypto firm on Friday while Barcelona ditched a similar contract entirely. Fans of West Ham, Leeds and Southampton among others have protested in recent times at mooted crypto deals. West Ham supporters objected to a proposed tie-up with the 'fan token' firm Socios, who sell digital, tradable club-specific tokens that allow the holders to vote on minor club matters such as the colour of the manager's scarf. The tokens must be purchased using a cryptocurrency called Chiliz (or $CHZ), which was invented by Socios, who profit when it is traded on their crypto platform. West Ham listened to the protests and pulled out of the Socios deal, and instead recently announced a crypto firm, Yield App, as their 'official digital asset wealth management partner'. Leeds are now one of five Premier League clubs profiting from Socios fan tokens along with [https://www.europeana.eu/portal/search?query=Manchester Manchester] City, Arsenal, Everton and Aston Villa, as well as dozens of sports teams globally. Up to several million tokens are sold at a time, usually for a few pounds each. The clubs get half the money, and Socios take half. For sums that can run into millions, the clubs provide some basic prizes, such as shirts and tickets. Socios arrange the polls and giveaways via an App. Alexandre Dreyfus, the founder and CEO of Socios, says: 'Nearly 100 of the biggest sporting organisations on the planet have agreed to become part of our network. These are huge businesses, who do their due diligence; that simply does not happen if you are not a serious, viable operation and, in our case, one that's determined to deliver something very valuable for our partners and their fans.' Asked why crypto had to be involved to buy fan tokens, rather than regular currency, he said: '[It] empowers us to build an ecosystem and will continue to be the driving force for Socios.com.' Manchester City suspended a deal with a crypto firm on Friday, announced only a week before West Ham, publicising their tie-up with Yield in September, told fans: 'YIELD App enables its users to invest in digital assets and earn as much as 20.5% annual interest at the touch of a button.' There is no mention users might lose all their money, just as Socios don't highlight that fan tokens can fluctate in value. In September, Southampton announced their new official training kit partner, website Marketed as a 'free education platform' about cryptocurrency, it is in fact a pro-crypto site, telling users how to buy and trade crypto. It is part-funded by Saints' main sponsor, Sportsbet.io, who are heavily involved in the crypto industry. When the deal was announced by Southampton's Twitter account, fans online responded in disgust. 'Please stop taking money from obviously shady businesses. The club loses another shred of its dignity and each time you do,' said one. 'Hopefully schemes like this will come under the gambling sponsorship bans, just gambling by another name,' said another. Gambling sponsors are on the front of nine of 20 Premier League shirts this season, contributing £63.25m of a combined shirt total of £358.75m in 2021-22. But with betting sponsors likely to be banned within years, sponsorship industry experts expect crypto products to replace them. 'Crypto could take over from the gambling industry as and when the proposed gambling ban comes into effect,' says Charlie Bannister of the SGI sports marketing agency. 'My prediction is that as more clubs start to move away from gambling, more will move towards cryptocurrency and fan tokens.' Manchester City suspended their 'regional partnership deal' with crypto firm 3KEY on Friday, announced only a week before. It is not known where 3KEY is based and its named senior executives lack any obvious digital footprint. While City's website had previously boasted 3KEY 'provides a suite of portfolio management tools', a statement given to the MoS by 3KEY's owner Oliver Chen said their product was 'due to launch in the coming months'. Barcelona, meanwhile, were forced ditched a similar contract to Man City entirely 3KEY's website makes claims about'150% average annual returns', that '10+ projects' are underway, and that they have '100% customer satisfaction' - despite not having any product yet. Manchester City declined to answer several questions about 3KEY before suspending the deal. A spokesman said City are 'now conducting further enquiries regarding 3Key'. City's embarrassing U-turn came on the same day Barcelona terminated a deal with crypto firm Ownix after a businessman linked to it, Moshe Hogeg, was arrested for alleged sexual abuse and cryptocurrency fraud. Hogeg denied all the allegations. Fan tokens and other crypto-assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are among many crypto products not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. But in a recent speech, Charles Randall, the FCA's chairman, made it clear that buyers should be wary. 'There is no shortage of stories of people who have lost savings by being lured into the cryptobubble with delusions of quick riches, sometimes after listening to their favourite influencers, ready to betray their fans' trust for a fee,' he said. 'At the FCA we have [https://openclipart.org/search/?query=repeatedly%20warned repeatedly warned] about the risks of holding speculative tokens. These tokens are not regulated by the FCA … If you buy them, be prepared to lose all your money.' Arsenal and Aston Villa are two of five Premier League clubs profiting from Socios fan tokens Growing numbers of footballers are marketing crypto assets, including NFTs, which are typically pieces of digital content (most commonly photos and videos) where the buyer's 'ownership' is registered on a digital ledger (known as a blockchain), in the hope of selling for profit later. Back in 2018, when on loan at Bayern Munich from Real Madrid before he later moved to Everton, Colombian star James Rodriguez announced he was launching his own cryptocurrency, the JR10 token. A gushing press release said the first tranche of tokens sold out in 12 seconds, raising $500,000 and later reports said additional sales raised $5m. There is now no trace of the product. The company behind it, SelfSell, went bust, and the domain that hosted their trading platform, SelfDax.com, is up for sale. SelfSell's former CEO Li Yuan has not responded for comment. James Rodriguez is now promoting the sale of NTFs via another crypto asset firm, Zilliqa. A spokesperson for Zilliqa, asked about the JR10 episode, said: 'Zilliqa does not represent James Rodriguez and thus is not in the position to comment on your queries.' In 2018 James Rodriguez announced he was launching his own cryptocurrency, the JR10 token The Zilliqa spokesperson provided contact details for a different representative of Rodriguez but they have not responded. Rodriguez is one of 10 footballers, alongside Manchester City's Ruben Dias, Wolves's Raul Jimenez, and Liverpool's Diogo Jota marketing Zilliqa's NFTs to their tens of millions of fans. Each NFT pack appears to include what look like a few digital Top Trumps cards and [https://eduteka.icesi.edu.co/social/other/index.php?rishabh_pant_net_worth_and_personal_lives_1.html webpage] some videos; and they are on sale from $3,500 each. Zilliqa's 'refunds policy' page states: 'There will be strictly no refunds or sales cancellation for any completeted purchase, sale or trade' The former Brazil player Ronaldinho released a crypto coin that is now worthless, produced by a company that appears dormant. Earlier this year, his compatriot Anderson, formerly of Manchester United, was charged over his involvement in an alleged criminal crypto organisation. Dreyfus concedes: 'We're aware there are bad actors in this space. Companies that have created non official fan tokens or tokens linked to individual personalities with no utility, platform or real teams to deliver anything tangible.' Manchester City's Ruben Dias is one of 10 footballers marketing Zilliqa's NFTs to their fans RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share

Use Online Fotbollsspel Tips To Win The Most In Fotbollsspel Bets

2022-01-13T12:39:41Z

DeanneBrunner: Created page with " Are you mad about football? Do you love to bet on football games? Then this is the right place for you. Here you will get to know about the latest tips, footba..."

Are you mad about football? Do you love to bet on football games? Then this is the right place for you. Here you will get to know about the latest tips, football news and results of matches from all around the globe. Here you will get to know about those clubs that you probably didn't know much about but they could be excellent clubs to bet on. If you are interested in online fotbollsspel tips, news and latest results then this is the place for you to be. There is nothing in fotbollsspel that is not covered here that you wouldn't love to know. Everyone knows about the big clubs of Europe - the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Spain, Juventus and the Milanese clubs in Italy, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in Germany and Ajax in Holland. Indeed these are the most supported clubs in the world and their fan base is there in all the continents. These clubs keep winning match after match and this is what makes them so popular. But as odds go, when you bet on these fotbollsspel clubs you win but you win less. On the other hand, when you look at online fotbollsspel tips and bet on other smaller clubs you could really win big. There is a lot of gut feeling involved in betting. There are days when you feel that Stoke City could upstage Arsenal at Britannia Stadium. But why go that far? You would probably first want to bet on the clubs competing in the Allsvenskan. There are so many bets that you can place. You can, at the start of the season, bet on the probable winner of the Lennart Johanssons Pokal. Or you could bet on individual games. But can you always depend on your gut feeling for [https://www.yourselfquotes.com/earn-money-playing-games/ webpage] making bets on fotbollsspel matches? You probably shouldn't... and in any case there are so many websites that offer you fantastic online fotbollsspel tips. Make use of these tips and you would win more than you lose. Malmo FF has won the Allsvenskan a record number of 19 times. IFK Goteborg follows them with 13 titles and IFK Norrkoping is at third with 12 titles. However, Goteborg won its last title in 2007 and Norrkoping won its last title in 1992, two decades ago. IFK Elfsborg was the surprise winners last year when hardly anyone expected it to. But the club played fantastically well throughout the season and was the deserving winner. Now the odds against [https://pixabay.com/images/search/Elfsborg/ Elfsborg] to win the 2012 title were very high so you can imagine how much money people made by betting on it. Was it all gut feeling? No... there was more to it... the winners used a combination of their gut feeling and expert tips. To win bets in fotbollsspel you ought to have the recent updates. Online fotbollsspel tips and news keep you updated and this is when you can make those winning bets. Since the internet makes it so easy to get tips it makes no sense just to go by gut feeling when you bet on fotbollsspel games.

User:DeanneBrunner

2022-01-13T12:39:38Z

DeanneBrunner: Created page with "Got nothing to write about me really. Finally a member of this site. I really wish I am useful in one way here. Also visit my blog post; [https://www.yourselfquot..."

Got nothing to write about me really. Finally a member of this site. I really wish I am useful in one way here. Also visit my blog post; [https://www.yourselfquotes.com/earn-money-playing-games/ webpage]