Taxi Driver Online

Say hello to Uber's self-driving car.

The transportation startup and Volvo have agreed a $300 million alliance to develop autonomous vehicles — and they will be hitting the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this month.

The deal is a clear indication of Uber's determination to ditch drivers in in its minicabs, and is the latest move by traditional vehicle manufacturers looking to team up with Silicon Valley firms long seen as disruptive threats to their industry.

The partnership, which was reported by Bloomberg, will see the Swedish-based carmaker, owned by China's Geely, and ride-hailing service Uber, pool resources into initially developing the autonomous driving capabilities of Volvo's flagship XC90 SUV. The investment will be roughly shared equally by the two companies.

Uber will purchase Volvos and then install its own driverless control system for the specific needs of its ride-hailing service. And Volvo will use the same vehicle for its own autonomous driving project, which is based on a plan that still envisages having a driver in the car.

The investment will go towards researching and developing both hardware, such as sensors used to detect traffic and obstacles, as well as software for the self driving cars.

The vehicles are being launched in Pittsburgh this week on a trial basis, Bloomberg reports: Uber customers who order a cab may randomly be sent one of the self-driving vehicles, which — at this stage — will have a human in the driver seat supervising.

Uber also recently bought up Otto, a driverless truck startup for a price of as much as $680 million.

(Editing by Niklas Pollard/Keith Weir)

http://uk.businessinsider.com/r-volvo-a ... ars-2016-8

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LiLo

half a car ?? im out

It's a nice motor.

Who is going to refill it, or change a flat, Oh the punter silly me

Well. We are all about to be made redundant aren't we?

Or we should all unite and build a human-only-driven-cabs alternative to UBER.

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LiLo

no the cars will come with "supervisors" aka serfs to do all the menial tasks like put fuel in and clean it

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

And clear up the mess when we all have a sh** in it.

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IDFIMH

I think there might be a few cctv cameras and a "supervisor" inside

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I think Volvo and the other Self driving car builders have lost the plot, have they not thought it through that If folk can use Self Drive taxis cheaper than have car ownership as uber states then all their private car sales will fly out the window because no one will have any need for their cars...Doh!

Its just a Volvo car.

dont come much better than a volvo though

''Maybe..but its still just a car.

with a nice bit of exposed tech on the roof if you were minded to imitate the luddites

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

A Volvo is allegedly built like a tank, , they will be able to take the shortest route, by ploughing through everything

I wonder what it'll be like in a Blizzard and lying snow or worse still black ice or Freezing rain....