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Aurora's Chris Urmson on autonomy — that's one way to avoid speeding tickets

Although this year's CES was full of companies announcing and exhibiting their real and conceivable self-driving car technologies, while actual self-driving cars from Aptiv-Lyft were giving conventioneers 400 rides around town, the biggest news came when Volkswagen Group — and recognize this is the entire group, not just the brand — and Hyundai announced that they'd both partnered with Aurora Innovation. While the VW announcement was vague — "The collaboration brings the two companies together to realize self-driving electric vehicles in cities as Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) fleets" — Hyundai provided a concrete goal: "a strategic partnership to bring self-driving Hyundai vehicles to market by 2021." You may not have heard of Aurora, which has been described in some news accounts as "mysterious." But Aurora Innovation has been in business since December 2016, and it is to autonomous technology what the 1927 Yankees are to baseball. The three leaders of the company are Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO, who had previously been chief technology officer for Alphabet Self-Driving Cars; Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer, who had directed the development of Tesla Autopilot; and Drew Bagnell, co-founder and chief technical officer, who had been autonomy architect and perception lead at the Uber Advanced Technology Center. We had the chance to sit down with Chris Urmson after he appeared onstage at a Hyundai press conference. He shared his insights on Aurora's approach to automated driving. Initial deployment of self-driving cars? "We think the first place this technology comes to market in in the transportation services or ride-hailing applications, but that's for our partners to decide." (Ride-sharing is a strategy a lot of players in the field are shooting for, as round-the-clock use is one way for paying for what will initially be a technology too costly for private ownership.) Transporting goods or people? "I personally — and as a company — am more excited initially about moving people around. Urban mobility. That's where you see the largest social impact. And it provides better access to mobility for people." Can you create a car that doesn't crash? "It is a fundamentally hard problem because other operators on the road can behave erratically at any moment. For example, if you are in a two-lane, opposing-traffic road, if you want to be safe, you don't drive there, ever.

Bosch: Diesel demand still strong, despite VW scandal

Like an auto racer's results on the circuit, Volkswagen's recovery from its diesel-emissions scandal may well depend on spin control. That's what Bosch Chairman Volkmar Denner said in recent remarks at an event in Germany, Reuters reports. Bosch is a major VW supplier, of course, so it does have some skin in the game. Denner said he hasn't seen signs that demand for diesel vehicles has fallen yet in the wake of a scandal in which software in VW diesels was programmed to game emissions-testing systems. Denner says the ultimate impact on diesel sales will depend largely on the "campaign" VW will use to assure the general public that its diesels remain a viable way for drivers to boost fuel economy and lessen their impact on the environment. Of course, there have been hints that VW may pivot to more electric vehicles and distance itself away from diesels in the coming years. As a VW supplier, Bosch has been connected to the diesel scandal, it has repeatedly said that the problems were all VW's fault. Europe's biggest automaker lost its CEO in the wake of last month's scandal and has set aside $7.3 billion to address the issue. As many as 11 million VWs may have been programmed with the cheating software. Governments around the world are trying to address the issue. France may eliminate diesel-fuel subsidies, while all VW diesels in Australia have been recalled. And California has given VW until November 20 to detail how it would fix the problem. Related Videos: Image Credit: AP Photo/Michael Sohn Green Volkswagen Emissions Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal

VW LogBox and Race App performance data logger for R models [w/video]

Now that it's got a 300-horsepower Golf R to brag about, Volkswagen wants you to be able to brag about it accurately with the LogBox and Race App performance data logging combo. Plug the LogBox into your VW's OBD II port and it sends data over BlueTooth to the Race App, measuring variables like acceleration, distance, G-force and engine performance. If you're on a circuit, it uses Google Maps to make a map of the track, and you can record live video in-app to match with the data. Volkswagen says the LogBox will be available for R models and "a range of further Volkswagen cars," so you'll want to hit up your dealer with questions before ordering. It's available from the VW accessories store for 299 euros ($365 US), but right now the free app is only available in German, in the German-language iTunes and Google Play store. We imagine that will be corrected shortly; in the meantime, the video can show you how it works. News Source: Volkswagen via YouTube, World Car Fans Volkswagen Technology Videos app vw golf r performance data recorder