Six severe software flaws have been discovered within Tesla Model S cars by cyber security researchers. That could allow malicious hackers to take control of the vehicle and put the driver at risk.
Kevin Mahaffey, chief technology officer of Lookout, and Marc Rogers, principal security researcher at Cloudflare, proved that Tesla Model S can be hacked, although the company has a better reputation for understanding of security software than most automakers. More »
Under pressure from federal regulators and after government and automakers raised concerns about vehicle communications, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV agreed Friday to recall approximately 1.4 million cars and trucks that can be cyber-attacked remotely.
The company made its decision shortly after Wired magazine revealed that a Jeep Cherokee could be hacked remotely. Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, two security experts, took control of the Cherokee trough its UConnect entertainment system. They could activate the brakes, steering, windshield wipers, transmission and entertainment system. Although it was just a demonstration, the two well-known hackers highlighted the vulnerability of the security system. More »
A new vulnerability has been found in Chrysler vehicles, according to a recent Wired exclusive report. A group of researchers found that the vulnerability lies in the UConnect system built into the dashboard computers of hundreds of thousands of Fiat Chrysler vehicles made since late 2013.
Two security experts, Chris Valasec and Charlie Miller, highlighted the vulnerability of the security system by attacking a Jeep Cherokee equipped with the UConnect. They discovered that attackers could remotedly locate cars by scanning for devices using the software and easily gain access via UConnect Internet-connected security system available on numerous Fiat Chrysler vehicles. More »
An automotive assembly line robot killed a worker at one of Volkswagen production plants in central Germany last week, the company’s spokesman Heiko Hillwig said in an official statement.
The 22-old man was grabbed by a robot and pressed up against a large metal plate which crushed his chest. The tragedy happened in Baunatal, which is near Kessel and about 60 miles north of Frankfurt. The man was part of a team that was setting up the stationary robot when, suddenly, the machine grabbed him. Volkswagen officials did not release the man’s name and declined to give any further details about the incident because of the ongoing investigation. More »
Speaking at the Freescale Technology Forum 2015 in Austin, Texas, Wozniak said that one day, humans will probably become the pets of robots in a good way.
Read more on the topic here.
Should your self-driving car be programmed to kill you in order to save a dozen other lives? Recently, Google has announced that the company’s self-driving cars have had just thirteen accidents since it began testing its new technology back in 2009. According to Google, most of the cars were in self-driving mode when the accidents happened, and the other driver caused the accident. Read more on the topic here.
The world’s largest online-only grocer Ocado, often called “the Amazon of food” and one of the UK’s most exciting tech companies is developing an autonomous robot that will be helping factory engineers fix mechanical faults and it would be able to learn on the job and to perform better. The robotics team at Ocado Technology is working in cooperation with four universities across the European Union. More »
Incidents with drones are becoming more and more frequent these days.
A 47-old man was driving along the motorway in North Rhine-Westphalia when a drone crashed into his windscreen. http://www.thelocal.de/20150522/drone-smashes-into-car-windscreen-on-autobahn
Another drone was hovering above Marblehead Memorial Day parade while suddenly it lost control and hit a man on his head. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/05/25/drone-crashes-hits-2-people-during-marblehead-parade/
Stories like these raise questions about drone regulations.
Yobot, a unique high-tech amenity of the new Yotel Hotel, is a robot that is designed to place guests’ luggage in a locker for them before or after checking in the hotel. The 669-room Yotel is located at Times Square West in Manhattan. The Yotel brand operates three other hotels in London and Amsterdam.
The robot is placed at the entrance of the hotel behind a secure glass wall where hotel guests can watch it in action. Guests use a touchscreen to enter the number and size of their bags. Te 20-foot tall robotic arm brings a box where the guest places their luggage and enters a pin number and last name. The container is weighed and stored in one of 117 lockers. Then the robot issues a receipt with bar code for the subsequent bag retrieval. More »
