Last week and in late December we focused on the unified programming platforms recently introduced by Xilinx and Intel respectively. This week we try to catch up on some of the major news from the last thirty days or so. Let’s start by briefly mentioning that Facebook is reportedly planning to develop its own operating system. And now, more updates from industry and research.

No driver – and no lidar, too

CES, of course, was the biggest IT-related event of this new year’s start, and autonomous driving was obviously a major theme in Las Vegas. One of the hurdles delaying this technology is the high number and cost of sensors, such as lidars. But that could change soon: at CES 2020, Mobileye President and CEO Prof. Amnon Shashua discussed ‘Vidar’, Mobileye’s solution for achieving outputs akin to lidar using only camera sensors. He showed a 23-minute video of an autonomous vehicle navigating with camera-only sensors in a complex environment. Also focusing on enhancing camera performance for autonomous driving is the collaboration between ON Semiconductor and Pony.ai – the first company to roll out daily robotaxi operation in China and in California.
(more…)