Self-driving car vs human: testing an auto braking system with a real person
... By having a person step out in front of an autonomous vehicle to see whether the auto braking system will kick in or if the Tesla will hit the person.
... By having a person step out in front of an autonomous vehicle to see whether the auto braking system will kick in or if the Tesla will hit the person.
The Energy Act 2023 will introduce a new tender process for electricity networks that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said will see consumers save up to £1bn off their energy bills by 2050. A new regime for overseeing mergers in the energy sector will also be created in an effort to minimise the risk that they will have detrimental effects on consumers. There are also new measures to prioritise safety for smart energy appliances that help consumers lower their energy usage at peak times. Ofgem is being given an expanded remit to oversee heat networks, allowing the regulator to set rules on excessive pricing and improve the quality of service. The Act includes new frameworks that incentivise the heating industry to invest in low-carbon heat pumps, and includes…
OpenAI has formed a Preparedness team that will assess, test and evaluate artificial intelligence (AI) models to address their potential dangers. Some of the risks the company aims to mitigate are the technology's capacity to pose “chemical, biological, and radiological threats” and facilitate “autonomous replication”. The team will also evaluate an algorithm’s ability to persuade and fool humans in instances such as phishing attacks and generating malicious codes. The team will be led by Aleksander Madry, the director of MIT’s Center for Deployable Machine Learning. “We believe that frontier AI models, which will exceed the capabilities currently present in the most advanced existing models, have the potential to benefit all of humanity,” OpenAI said in a blog post making the announcement…
Ford has revealed it will delay about $12bn (£10bn) in EV investments. During its third-quarter earnings call, the company’s executives said customers are unwilling to buy premium EVs, revealing that Ford’s Model e EV unit had lost about $3.1bn this year. As a result, the company has decided to postpone its EV investments, including the construction of a second battery plant with joint venture partner SK. In contrast, the construction of its EV manufacturing campus in Tennessee will not be affected. The company stressed that it wasn’t going back on its pledges, but said it now wants to increase its EV manufacturing capacity in a more gradual way. “We’re not moving away from our second generation [EV] products,” said CFO John Lawler. “We are, though, looking at the pace of capacity…
The ILLUMA-T (Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal) payload will be launching to the International Space Station (ISS) next month to show how missions in low Earth orbit can benefit from laser communications. The system works by using invisible infrared light to send and receive information at higher data rates, allowing spacecraft to send more data back to Earth in a single transmission. Space laser communications technology could provide 10 to 100 times higher data rates than traditional radio frequency systems can, for the same mass and power. The test of the technology follows the launch of Nasa’s LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) in December 2021. This is currently demonstrating the benefits of laser communications…
In terms of road transport, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are the hardest to fully decarbonise. Due to their size and weight, electrified trucks face shorter ranges and long charge times to fill up the massive batteries required to power them. This means the decarbonisation of the sector is lagging behind smaller vehicles. Nevertheless, MEPs have now voted for the aforementioned targets to cut truck emissions, as well as an interim 70 per cent target for 2035, which was higher than the 65 per cent initially proposed by the Commission. They also said the standards should be extended to cover the 20 per cent of heavy-duty vehicle sales the Commission has proposed to exempt, such as waste and construction trucks and small trucks driving in cities. Fedor Unterlohner, freight manager at climate…
The bank wants to support Africa’s sixth most populated nation and help it reduce its energy emissions. South Africa’s energy grid has been increasingly struggling, with the country’s coal-fired power stations routinely breaking down and leaving citizens without power for up to 10 hours a day. To address this situation, the World Bank said it will provide a $1bn ( £830m) development policy loan (DPL) to South Africa. The funds are expected to help facilitate the “restructuring of the power sector” through the unbundling of state-owned utility firm Eskom. The World Bank said the loan “supports the opening of the power market and aims to improve Eskom’s efficiency by redirecting its resources toward investments in transmission and maintenance of existing power plants”. In addition…
The company lost its licence to operate its robotaxis in the city after being accused of “ misrepresenting” the safety of the technology and withholding information from regulators. The safety of Cruise’s driverless taxis came into question earlier this month, following an accident in which one of its cars rolled over a woman who had been hit by a human driver and thrown into the road. The Cruise car braked but only came to a stop once it was on top of her. The company said the vehicle “detected a collision” and “attempted to pull over to avoid causing further road safety issues, pulling the individual forward approximately 20 feet”. The woman survived but suffered severe injuries. The accident prompted the DMV to reassess the safety of the technology. During the investigation, the…
A 3D-printed skull was used in a trial that concluded with the conviction of four men on murder charges. The model was designed by a team at the University of Portsmouth, using a digital model that relied on data provided by Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary’s imaging unit. It supported the pathologist’s testimony and allowed the jury to visualise trauma to the victim, Frazer Brabant. “This was an unusual case because the victim had survived some very traumatic injuries and spent three months in hospital before he sadly passed away,” said Dr Morgan Lowther, senior scientific officer at the university. “This meant that there were hospital-quality X-ray scans of his injuries, which we could use to reconstruct the anatomy. “Using the digital model provided by the hospital scans…
A new study finds that existing regulations could avoid 6,751 early deaths among adults in the UK by 2030 compared to if no regulations existed. That estimate nearly doubles to 13,269 avoided adult premature deaths if all possible technically feasible measures are employed to reduce air pollution immediately. But they don’t cover most of the pollution emitted by the UK’s agriculture sector, which has emissions predicted to rise in the coming years. Earlier this year, a report from the Environmental Investigation Agency even found that UK farmers were using a legal loophole to burn and dump thousands of tonnes of toxic agricultural plastic every year. Lead author Dr Eloise Marais said: “Our study demonstrates that existing legislation and regulations already have a sizeable benefit on health…
For the first time, the government has published a report on the capabilities and risks that AI poses to the UK’s society and economy. The report draws on various sources – including intelligence assessments – to evaluate the current state of “frontier AI” capabilities and how these might improve in the future, as well as the risks they present, including societal harms, misuse and loss of control. “I genuinely believe that technologies like AI will bring a transformation as far-reaching as the Industrial Revolution, the coming of electricity or the birth of the internet,” Sunak said at the Royal Society. But “it also brings new dangers and new fears. So the responsible thing for me to do is to address those fears head on giving you the peace of mind that we will keep you safe while making…
Calculators Even with application circuits and reference designs available from many manufacturers, calculations remain a large part of a designer’s workload. Some may be simple, such as implementing Ohm’s law, while others are more complex, especially those relating to analogue design techniques such as filters, power systems and RF projects. Mistakes can be made with even the simplest calculations, while complex mathematics can consume significant time. There is also the need to consider real-world effects such as parasitic elements that add more complexity, especially if high degrees of accuracy are required. Fortunately, there is a wealth of resources online—many of which are free of charge—to assist designers. For example, Texas Instruments’ analog engineer’s calculator (Figure 1…
Avi Goldfarb, one-third of the writing trio that has just published Power and Prediction, says: “The benefits of AI [artificial intelligence] come when we use it to do things differently. Too many AI applications are what we call ‘point solutions’, where you start with an existing workflow, and insert a machine to replace a task done by a human.” The problem with this, says Goldfarb, is that it’s the same old anchor that’s weighed down so many companies looking for change: we’ve always done it this way. By inserting AI into an existing system, unless you’re extraordinarily lucky, “the best you can do is what you’ve always done, but a little bit better”. What you need is a ‘system solution’, in which “AI enables new workflows and new ways to deliver value”. The concept of adding value rather…
While it’s always cheapest to charge at home, prices can vary between public chargepoints. Those using rapid and ultra-rapid chargers are even at risk of paying more than their fossil fuel counterparts. The new regulations will force providers to open up their data to make it easier for drivers to find an available chargepoint. This should also help to improve apps, online maps and in-vehicle software for locating nearby chargepoints. Earlier this month, the UK surpassed 50,000 EV charging points – demonstrating a significant increase in the rate at which they are being deployed. The 40,000th charger was installed only eight months prior, whereas a full year passed for the previous 10,000 chargers to be installed (February 2022 to February 2023). Nevertheless, installations will have…
The Asus ROG Ally is the latest challenge to the Valve Steam Deck in handheld PC gaming and probably the most powerful to date. The Ally bests the Steam Deck on a number of technical specifications, notably its seven-inch 1080p display with a 120Hz refresh rate (against its rival’s 800p, 60Ghz display) and its engine room, an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme. This 4nm processor is an eight-core, 16-thread beast with a 24MB cache and up to a 5.1GHz boost. From an ergonomic point of view, the Ally also weighs in at 608g against the Steam Deck’s 669g, although hardcore gamers have differed over which sits more comfortably in your hands. Image credit: ROG Ally At $700/£700, the Ally’s arrival has already led Valve to drop the price of its most highly specified model from $649…
A report from Centrica found that the UK’s existing queue for Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) – the queue for connecting new projects to the grid – is massively oversubscribed, and the problem has become more severe in the last few years. Some of the new energy projects are being blocked on the grounds that the developers do not even have land rights yet and haven’t applied for planning consents. The estimated size of these projects is around 62GW, or roughly one-fifth of all power generation in the queue. Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea argues that these ‘phantom’ projects should have their construction agreements terminated if developers miss key milestones. “In recent years, energy security has rightly moved up the agenda as countries look to secure supplies and drive the transition to…
The agreement, with Texas-based Axiom Space, would see the team spend up to two weeks in orbit to carry out scientific research, demonstrate new technologies and participate in education and outreach activities. British astronaut Tim Peake has said he will come out of retirement to lead the mission after last flying to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015 with the European Space Agency. “There’s a lot happening in the space sector right now, and I think for the UK to be at the forefront of this new era of exploring commercial opportunities is a fantastic thing,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “There are several hurdles to overcome: the financial model needs to be secured, crew selection and training, and Nasa needs to approve the mission and they need to identify a…
Hyderabad’s first flood prevention system 115 years ago The first warning came at 2am on 28 September 1908. Musi, the river that flows through the ancient Indian city of Hyderabad, was rising dangerously. In just 48 hours, local stations recorded 18.9in of rainfall. One after the other, the city’s irrigation water tanks gave way as the river rose 60ft and flowed through the streets, leaving destruction in its wake. Once the water retreated, 50,000 houses, four bridges and a hospital were gone, and more than 15,000 people had drowned or been washed away. When the rain stopped, Hyderabad began to rebuild. The authorities enlisted the help of famed engineer Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, known as Sir MV, to oversee the works. Sir MV concluded that the best way to prevent floods would be…
Engineering professionals positively impact the lives of the general public every single day, however, due to a lack of awareness, much of this is taken for granted. Whether we’re admiring a great architectural feat, bypassing the stairs to reach the 15th floor of a building, or decreasing our carbon footprint thanks to clean energy innovations, we consumers absorb a wealth of engineering talent without having to give it too much thought. This is where the Royal Honours process comes into its own. Recipients of a Royal Honour not only enjoy individual prestige, they also shine a light on their employers and the merits of the wider industry in which they operate. So perhaps it’s time to think about nominating a colleague or peer for their outstanding achievements? What makes a nomination…
One programme aimed at sparking the interest of girls in key stage 4 (14 to 16 years old) and sixth-formers has concluded for 2023 and has doubled the take-up – there were 465 participants – from the previous year. The UK Electronic Skills Foundation’s (UKESF’s) Girls into Electronics programme, in collaboration with Apple, was conducted at many of the UK’s leading universities and involved participation from over 100 schools. The initiative is part of the UKESF’s wider work to address the skills shortage in the electronics sector, while also tackling the gender imbalance. Diversity drive Stewart Edmondson, CEO at UKESF, said: “We’re thrilled at the success of this year’s Girls into Electronics programme. To more than double the number of female students participating is an amazing achievement…
At the UN’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, 145 countries pledged to end the felling of forests by the end of the decade as this is responsible for about 10 per cent of global carbon emissions. But the study from a coalition of civil society and research organisations has found that not only are countries failing to meet the stated goal, but in some cases deforestation is continuing to worsen. “The world’s forests are in crisis. All these promises have been made to halt deforestation and fund forest protection. But the opportunity to make progress is passing us by year after year,” said Erin Matson, a lead author of the Forest Declaration Assessment. “We saw that in 2021 efforts to end deforestation were already lagging. 2022 was a chance to catch up, but leaders fell short once…
Voyager 1 was first launched in 1977 on a path that eventually led both it and its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2, outside the solar system altogether. But in recent years, Nasa said that fuel residue has been accumulating inside narrow tubes in some of the thrusters on both spacecraft. Voyager 1 has also faced problems with sending junk data back home after it suddenly began routing its telemetry data through a derelict onboard computer for unknown reasons. The thrusters on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are primarily used to keep the spacecraft antennae pointed at Earth in order to communicate. As spacecraft can rotate in three directions, Voyager’s thrusters automatically fire to reorient itself. Each time a thruster fires, it adds tiny amounts of propellant residue, leading to gradual build…
The drone was named the Giant Foamboard Quadcopter (GFQ) GFQ is made from foamboard, a cardboard-like material. It measures 6.4m (21 ft) corner to corner and weighs 24.5kg – half a kilogram less than the weight limit set by the Civil Aviation Authority. The quadcopter was built from sheets of 5mm thick foamboard, which can be recycled or even composted. The sheets were laser cut to size and assembled into the 3D structure by hand using only hot melt glue. The four arms can be easily removed for transportation. The drone is powered by four electric motors running off a 50-volt battery pack and can fly autonomously. GFQ was tested by the team in July inside the main hangar at Snowdonia Aerospace Centre. The researchers said they hope this demonstration will inspire…
Microsoft has announced its plans to spend A$5bn (£2.6bn) on expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing abilities in Australia over the next two years. The company has also pledged to collaborate with Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to boost domestic protection from cyber threats. The partnership was announced by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the opening day of his state visit to the US. The pledge has been described as Microsoft’s largest-ever single investment in Australia. “This is our largest investment in Microsoft’s 40-year history in Australia and a testament to our commitment to the country’s growth and prosperity in the AI era, ” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president. The company said it plans to use the funds to build…