Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Robotaxi By Cruise Premieres in Austin, Texas
Although other companies have made use of the "robotaxi" idea label (see Elon Musk: Production Of Robotaxis In 2024 and Tesla Robotaxis Will Automatically Recharge Themselves), Cruise is actively offering their service.
Last night, @cruise launched their self-driving (NO humans in the car!) taxi service in downtown Austin, TX 🤠
— Sahil Chaturvedi (@SahilC0) December 22, 2022
I was lucky to be able to try it out! Here's my first impression.
Watch me giggle like a maniac around 4:01 🤣 👇 https://t.co/239E4E4RsI pic.twitter.com/RGNwFvcOfX
Developing an urban fleet of fully autonomous vehicles is an incredible challenge. To be successful, we needed to build both the AV tech that’s out on the road and the ecosystem of tools our engineers use internally.
(Cruise)In creating this cycle, we thought carefully about how to best empower our engineers. Home-grown technology chains like this can get unwieldy quickly — the last thing you want as an engineer is to fight the disparate tools you are using or jump across too many of them to get your daily work done. Google Cloud has been a useful tool for us as we worked to streamline and support this development cycle, adapt our cloud-first infrastructure strategy, and seamlessly scale our systems. The frameworks we use in the vehicle, data logging, visualization, data mining, and ML modeling are all built on top of a common foundation that makes going from road to code — and from code to road — fast and safe.
(Via Cruise.)
As far as I know, the first use of the portmanteau word "robotaxi" occurred in Dugal Was A Spaceman by Joe Gibson, published by Science Fiction Quarterly in 1953:
The trance persisted as he settled back in a robotaxi and the brilliant lights of the streets flashed past.
See variations on this idea in Larry Niven's bubble cars from World out of Time (1976) or the tin cabbie from James Blish's 1957 novel Cities in Flight. A more recent take can be found in Alan Dean Foster's 2006 novel Sagramanda; see the automated taxi. Also, see the automatic automobile from David H. Keller's 1935 story The Living Machine and the aircab from the 1955 novel Time Crime by H. Beam Piper.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/23/2022)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Transportation ")
San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...' - Stanley G. and Helen Weinbaum, 1938.
Volvo's Autonomous Truck
'They were automatic trucks such as are used for making deliveries...' - Miles J. Breuer, 1932.
Eviation Alice Electric Plane First Flight
'A white electric plane approached at great speed...' - Charles Cloukey, 1930.
Robotaxi By Cruise Premieres in Austin, Texas
'... he settled back in a robotaxi and the brilliant lights of the streets flashed past.' - Joe Gibson, 1953.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Russians Think US Is Weaponizing Asteroids
'BY PUSHING AGAINST THE
LITTLE MARTIAN MOON WITH OUR
ROCKET SHIP, WE HAD LESSENED
THE CENTRIFUGAL SPEED THAT
HELD IT BALANCED IN THE SKY.'
The Warp And Fabric Of Spacetime
'Jenkins had evidently fallen into a warp in space.'
'Birds Aren't Real' An NPR Gen-Z Conspiracy
Keep your eyes on the skies!
Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'
Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'
'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?
Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'
Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'
Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'
Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'
