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Amazon Zoox Unveils Autonomous Robotaxi

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday December 15 2020, @05:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the gad-zoox! dept.

takyon writes:

Amazon's Zoox unveils electric robotaxi that can travel up to 75 mph

Six years ago, Zoox launched quietly with a mighty mission: build and commercialize just about every aspect of a robotaxi service from the self-driving software stack and on-demand ridesharing app to the management of the fleet and an unconventional vehicle that would transport passengers.

Now, it's finally lifting the veil on its multi-year effort. Zoox, which was acquired earlier this year by Amazon, unveiled the electric, autonomous robotaxi it built from the ground up — a cube-like vehicle loaded with sensors, no steering wheel and a moonroof that is capable of transporting four people at speeds of up to 75 miles per hour. The vehicle can drive bidrectionally and has four-wheel steering, capabilities that Zoox said were included to allow it to maneuver through compact spaces and change directions without the need to reverse. In other words, dense urban environments.

The vehicle has a four-seat, face-to-face symmetrical seating configuration, similar to what a train traveler might encounter. It's also equipped with a 133 kilowatt-hour battery that Zoox said allows it to operate for up to 16 continuous hours on a single charge. Zoox didn't provide a mileage range for the battery.

Also at The Verge, Bloomberg, CNBC, and NYT.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:11PM (3 children)

    by c0lo (156) on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:11PM (#1087550) Journal

    Unless you're throwing rocks from directly underneath the car.

    The scenario is "shooting" a laser from 1.5km to jam the proximity sensors of a flying robot.
    Don't tell me the taxi will be equipped with large field/huge resolution cameras to make from enhance 15 to 33... make hard copy right there [youtube.com] a reality.

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by PiMuNu on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:25PM (2 children)

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:25PM (#1087553)

    You do realise TFA is not a flying robot.

    In any case, one presumes a flying robot has multiple sensors e.g. an altimeter.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:32PM

      by c0lo (156) on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:32PM (#1087555) Journal

      You do realise TFA is not a flying robot.

      Fuck me, you're right, I'm stupid. It's not a flying one.
      Don't know how I could have misread TFS.

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      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:34PM

      by c0lo (156) on Tuesday December 15 2020, @01:34PM (#1087556) Journal

      In any case, one presumes a flying robot has multiple sensors e.g. an altimeter.

      would it have been a flying one, altimeter only doesn't help with proximity sensing, the part of the problem where the major risks are.

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      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0