Audi’s into AI
German automaker Audi has partnered with a Waterloo AI company on driverless technology.
DarwinAI, a startup based in Waterloo, Ont., creates artificial neural networks to simulate the human brain’s ability to learn, adapt and make decisions based on its environment. After a team of Audi engineers saw a reduction of more than 90 percent in the number of hours spent processing and refining data for those AI networks using technology developed by DarwinAI, the companies have announced a partnership.
A paper on the engineers’ study was presented this week at the British Machine Vision Conference at Cardiff University in Wales. It demonstrates how the automaker used the local tech company’s expertise to develop faster and more compact neural networks for self-driving cars, without sacrificing accuracy.
Audi was one of DarwinAI’s first clients after the company went public last year. The paper also studied how the Canadian company uses Generative Synthesis (GenSynth) technology to design AI neural networks for the detection of surrounding objects in autonomous vehicles. The study found that DarwinAI’s tech produced more compact networks specifically designed for specific tasks.
Neural networks were created for 10 classes of objects including buses, cars, trucks, fire hydrants, bicycles and traffic lights. The researchers found that they could achieve the same or better average precision with GenSynth technology as with a network that was designed by humans. It was also more compact and had lower computational costs.
Overall, the number of hours programmers spent refining models plummeted from 200 to 17, and the number of hours spent processing the data dropped dramatically from 10,400 to just 760.
It’s Electrifying
A subsidiary of Volkswagen is breaking ground on a charging station for vehicles that have yet to hit Canadian roads.
Electrify Canada is building a brand new charging station at Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills, Ont. The station will use cool-cabled technology to allow DC fast charging between 50 and 350 kW — the latter range is said to be capable of charging up to 30 kilometres of range per minute in equipped vehicles.
The only catch — there are currently no vehicles sold in Canada that are able of recharging at 350kW. That requires an 800-volt battery as opposed to the 400-volt industry standard.
However, several upcoming models from the Volkswagen Canada Group’s lineup will have the necessary 800-volt battery, including the Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-Tron GT.
The company’s U.S. counterpart Electrify America has also installed stations at premium outlet malls across the States.
The new station is the first of 32 planned locations in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. The chargers are equipped with CCS and CHAdeMO ports, making them usable for all EVs except Teslas.
Customers will be able to purchase sessions via credit card or Electrify Canada’s app. Prices will be announced closer to launch.
Curiosity Drives
Delta Airlines is exploring research opportunities in autonomous vehicle technology alongside Georgia Tech and the Curiosity Lab.
The partnership between the three companies enables Delta Airlines and Georgia Tech access to Curiosity Labs’ 1.5-mile (1.6km) long autonomous vehicle testing track. Curiosity Labs is a 5G-enabled autonomous vehicle and smart city living lab based in Peachtree Corners, GA. A network operations centre at the lab enables researchers to track and analyze data.
Delta sees AV technology as having the potential to improve employee safety, the customer experience and overall operational performance; the partnership allows the company to pursue the possibilities of this technology.
Delta said that autonomous vehicles could potentially undertake tasks like transporting passengers between tight connecting flights or returning lost baggage to its owner.
This is not the first time an airline has shown interest in AV technology. In November 2018, a South Korean telecoms firm KT Corp announced the successful testing of a self-driving bus at Incheon International Airport. The bus took a 2.2 kilometre trip outside Terminal 1 of the airport. It was able to change lanes to avoid obstacles and slow down at traffic signals.
