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Uber hopes facilities in Detroit will help shape its autonomous future

Hot off the heels of unleashing its fleet of self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, PA, Uber announced plans to open a new facility in the Detroit, MI area, reports Automotive News. The new facility was announced at an event hosted by Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit, MI. Uber's vice president of global vehicle programs Sherif Marakby revealed the news, reports Automotive News. The facility is meant to help the ride-sharing company collaborate with suppliers and automakers in the area. There's no word on where Uber will build the new facility or how big it will be, as those factors have yet to be determined. Just like Pittsburgh, PA, Detroit, MI could become another testing ground for the ride-sharing company. The latest move to open a facility in the Detroit area comes after Uber offered users in Pittsburgh the chance to ride in one of its autonomous vehicle as it looks to gain vital real-world testing. Uber is utilizing a fleet of modified Ford Fusions. Earlier this year in April, the automaker announced a partnership with Google, Lyft, Uber, and Volvo to develop autonomous cars. A new facility in Detroit would strengthen the partnership and help Uber, as well as Ford put autonomous vehicles on the road faster. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: AOL Green Ford Volvo Transportation Alternatives Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Detroit Uber taxi Lyft ridesharing facility

How the new Volvo EX90 electric SUV adds revolution to the evolution

The all-new, all-electric Volvo EX90 does not appear to be radically different from the XC90, the vehicle it will eventually replace. It has nearly the same dimensions, inside and out. It sports familiar, familial design cues, including T-shaped “ThorÂ’s Hammer” headlights, a squared-off hood and roofline, sharply-swaged and deeply-scalloped flanks and tall taillights that fringe the hatch. Inside, three accessible rows of seats are done up in an upscale Scandinavian Modern motif, like an Arne Jacobsen furniture showroom. But if one looks closely, one begins to notice key differences. First, there is the blunt, closed snout up front. It may be grille-less, but itÂ’s still bedecked with VolvoÂ’s Iron Mark. Then, dead centered above the rearview mirror, like a pair of reading glasses canted atop oneÂ’s forehead, is a protruding hump. These hint at the EXÂ’s most comprehensive distinctions from its predecessor. The new full-size crossover is engine-less, the first Volvo to be built on an all-new battery-powered electric vehicle platform. And housed in that hump, is another first, the initial consumer vehicular integration of a functional lidar — like radar, but using light instead of sound waves — used to allow the carÂ’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to “see” further down the road, even around bends and through some objects. Eventually, allegedly, it will also allow for “unsupervised driving” capabilities. Both of these features are signifiers of VolvoÂ’s latest, but ongoing, missions. The first is its commitment to a full electrification of its entire passenger car fleet, which it plans to accomplish by the end of this decade. The second is the brandÂ’s well-known leadership in vehicular safety. Volvo claims that its new suite of sensors (16 ultra-sonic, eight cameras, five radars and the lidar) can help prevent 10% of vehicular collisions and 20% of serious injuries, part of the brandÂ’s mission to prevent anyone from being killed or seriously injured in a Volvo. ThereÂ’s even a group of sensors monitoring the driverÂ’s wellbeing to make sure theyÂ’re not sleepy or wasted, while concurrently scanning the passenger compartment to ensure that no child or pet was left behind due to that aforementioned tired or inebriated state. If they forget, theyÂ’ll get an alert on their phone, which is also their key, and the A/C or heater will automatically turn on so the precious (yet forgotten) cargo doesnÂ’t bake/freeze.

Volvo to unveil permanent high-beam headlamp technology [w/video]

Volvo will be showing off its Active High Beam technology at the Geneva Motor Show next week. The system will allow drivers to use their high beams all the time and adds another responsibility to the cameras mounted by the rearview mirror, making them detect traffic ahead, whether it be another car or a truck or motorcycle and in the same lane or oncoming. When a vehicle is detected, a special projector in the Xenon lamps can block out only the portion of the high beam that would impair the other driver. Volvo says the system is accurate down to a 1.5-inch margin around another object.
Active High Beam will be fitted to the Volvo S60, V60 and XC60 and we have to assume they mean the non-US versions of those cars. Audi has a similar technology that it calls "matrix beam lighting," and due to the way the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard code is written, such active control of high beams is verboten on cars sold here.
The Swedish brand also plans to present a collision-avoidance technology it's calling a "world-first." The press release below has more information and the accompanying video demonstrates the lighting tech.