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While some automakers look to electrify conventional trucks, General Motors has taken a much more radical approach in its development of next-generation commercial vehicles.

Meet the Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure, or SURUS for short.

Unveiled on Friday ahead of the fall meeting of the Association of the United States Army, where it will be presented on Monday, the SURUS is essentially a modular platform designed for heavy-duty trucks that will enable near-silent running, zero harmful emissions, and autonomous operation.

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Hyperloop One has received a significant investment in Hyperloop One — the official figure hasn’t been revealed, but it’s enough that the Hyperloop tech startup, which aims to create networks of high-speed transportation tunnels to various locales across the globe, has changed its name. Virgin Hyperloop One is the entity’s official moniker going forward, which is quite a mouthful.

Virgin Hyperloop One’s rebrand will mean it gains from association with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, whose high-tech transportation exploits include Virgin Galactic and other space-based ventures. The goal of the company under the rebrand remains the same, and it’ll continue to explore the best places and partners for deploying its high-speed transportation tech, which will zoom pods at high speed down extremely low-pressure tubes to reduce trip times over land from hours to minutes.

The money isn’t the only connection between Hyperloop One and Virgin; the Hyperloop company’s president of engineering, Josh Giegel, is a former Virgin employee. Branson noted in a blog post that he also visited Hyperloop One earlier this summer to view its technology first-hand, at the Hyperloop One DevLoop test track site in Nevada, outside Las Vegas.

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Dubai’s police department has added a flying motorcycle to its arsenal. Capable of flying with or without a pilot, the bike will be used to help rescue missions and monitor traffic. Due to safety concerns, the bike won’t fly higher than 20 feet. Dubai officials plan to start using the vehicle within the next two years.

The flying motorcycle is just the latest piece of absurd technology the Dubai government has introduced in the last year. The bike will join the ranks of Dubai’s jetpack firefighters, flying taxis, and robot police officers.

Dubai’s push for new government technology is part of their plan improve services ahead of their world fair, Expo 2020, which is expected to attract 25 million visitors to the city.

Continue reading “Dubai police add hoverbikes to go with their robocops and flying taxis” »

In a big step on the journey to our robot-laden future, California is moving to permit companies that are developing self-driving cars to test them in the state with no human safety driver at the wheel.

The state that’s home to the biggest concentration of autonomous vehicles is poised to take a big step to help advance the technology — and fend off efforts by other states to attract test programs.

(Reuters) — British billionaire Richard Branson on Thursday placed another bet on the future with an investment in Hyperloop One, which is developing super high-speed transportation systems.

Hyperloop One said Branson’s Virgin Group would take the company global and rebrand itself as Virgin Hyperloop One in the near future.

Branson has joined the board of Hyperloop One, which will develop pods that will transport passenger and mixed-use cargo at speeds of 250 miles per hour (402 km per hour).

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From flying taxis to Batman-style surveillance motorcycles, Dubai’s GITEX expo this week showcased innovations that were symbols of the city-state’s ambitions to be a metropolis of the future.

Known for its futuristic skyline and artificial islands, Gulf emirate Dubai has carved out a place alongside cities like Singapore as a hub for innovative ideas.

Continue reading “From flying taxis to robocops, Dubai reveals its future technologies” »

And charge electric cars.

Plenty of obstacles, no regulations, and nobody in a huge rush—sounds like an ideal proving ground for autonomous cars. Self-driving startup Voyage certainly thinks so, because it’s just kicked off a trial at the Villages Golf and Country Club, a 4,000-resident retirement community with 15 miles of roads located in San Jose, California.

Speeds on the roads at the Villages are limited to 25 mph, but most autonomous car tests in cities and suburbs don’t go a great deal faster than that anyway. Still, the roads are full of the same kinds of obstacles you’d find in most suburbs: pedestrians, animals, golf buggies. Okay, maybe the golf buggies are a new hazard to most driverless cars.

But the biggest draw for the move is secrecy. As the New York Times points out, because the community is a private residence, Voyage doesn’t need to comply with the whims of regulators, which means it can try out new things without anyone finding out. And perhaps it can even explore using entirely driver-free vehicles sooner than it could on real roads.

Continue reading “Robo-Taxis Are Driving Around a Retirement Community, and That’s a Savvy Idea” »