The Innovation Report
Ford’s Restructuring Initiative: Additional Layoffs In The U.S.
On June 26, Ford announced it would carry out layoffs, primarily affecting engineering jobs in the U.S. and Canada, as the carmaker aims to cut costs while restructuring its business operations. All three of Ford’s business units, Ford Blue,...
House GOP Discusses Use Of Robot Dogs To Patrol US Borders
The United States Department of Homeland Security caused a stir last February when it revealed that it was exploring deploying robot dogs on the U.S./Mexico border. “The southern border can be an inhospitable place for man and beast, and that is exactly why...
Virgin Galactic To Fly Customers To Edge Of Space At Up To $450,000 Per Ticket
A twin-fuselage jet stood ready on Thursday to carry a Virgin Galactic rocket plane with a three-man crew from Italy into the New Mexico sky for a high-altitude launch of the company’s first flight of paying customers to the edge of space. The two Italian...
Aurora’s Self-Driving Trucks Are On The Road; What It’s Like Inside An Autonomous Big Rig
Darcy Desjarlais, senior truck operations specialist at Aurora, hovers both hands under the steering wheel of Aurora’s self-driving truck as it cruises at 65 miles per hour down Interstate 45, heading in its typical route towards Houston. Above his palms could be the...
Biden Administration Aims $2B In Grants At US EV Transition
President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday said it intends to invest $2 billion from last year's Inflation Reduction Act to accelerate domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles and resuscitate plants that are struggling. Speeding grants and other subsidies to...
Trump Stokes Electric Car Fears In Michigan
Former President Donald Trump is trying to tap into union autoworkers' anxieties about the switch to electric vehicles, seeking a political vulnerability in one of the Biden administration's signature economic policies. He aimed a barrage of attacks at President Joe...
How A Silent Robot Fish Could Help Ocean Researchers
The mysteries of the ocean abound. And now, a group of student researchers is trying out a new way to gain better and more accurate information – with a robot fish. The robot, named Belle, was created by students at the university ETH Zürich. They designed...
Central Florida’s Suntrax Autonomous Vehicle Test Track Opens
The Florida Department of Transportation and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 12 celebrating the official launch of the state's first self-driving testing facility. SunTrax, under construction since November 2017, will allow...
This Satellite Could Help Clean Up The Air
In pockets across the U.S., communities are struggling with polluted air, often in neighborhoods where working class people and people of color live. The people who live in these communities often know the air is polluted, but they don't always have the data to fight...
Texas Says State-Funded EV Charging Stations Need To Include Tesla’s NACS Connector
Texas says that it will require state-funded electric vehicle charging stations to have a connector for Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). The news comes as automakers such as Ford, GM and Rivian shift to adopting the NACS and away from...
