Self-driving has become more than just a term that will be used some day in our state. We already are sharing the road with cars, vans and trucks that carry us and our payloads. And such progress in a short period already is prompting ideas of what is to come in our future.
Honeywell’s latest efforts demonstrate its technological capabilities in both hardware and software for the markets of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and urban air mobility (UAM)—a new breed of electric or hybrid-electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically. The lab, which resembles a conceptual UAM vehicle flight deck, is the first of its kind to demonstrate actual fly-by-wire controls and vehicle avionics integrated in a lab setting.
What’s the answer to moving people and their freight on an increasing scale? Some of the coming fixes can trace their roots to Arizona. As you’ll see in this issue of TechConnect, moving cargo without a human pilot aboard is just scratching the surface for the future of transportation. Arizona already is part of the solution when it comes to relieving the expected congestion by using the skies and roads in more efficient ways.
In 2018, Governor Ducey created the Institute of Automated Mobility (IAM). Led by the Arizona Commerce Authority—the state’s leading economic development organization—this consortium includes experts from private industry, government and academia working together to advance research in automated vehicle science, safety and policy. This unique Arizona collaboration is driving the future of transportation.
On the technological side, it’s in some ways easier to have autonomous planes than autonomous cars. There are fewer obstacles, so it’s less likely you’ll hit something. The downside is that there’s no stepping on the brake if there’s trouble ahead. Fortunately, we can teach a computer to build an algorithm:
With so much talk about individualism when it comes to innovation, it admittedly can take a person back when the conversation shifts to collaboration. This theme came up again and again during the recent podcast “Electrifying: The Future of Transportation and Mobility” sponsored by the Arizona Technology Council and moderated by Karen Nowicki on Phoenix Business RadioX. The featured guests were Andrew Christian, vice president of Business Development and Defense at Nikola Motor Company, and Dominic Papa, vice president of Smart State Initiatives at the Arizona Commerce Authority.
Electric vehicle manufacturers Lucid Motors and Nikola Motor Company plant roots in Arizona with new state-of-the-art facilities and lead the way in the mass production of zero-emission cars and trucks.
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have opened the door for an unprecedented number of uses for unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs). Groups of drones now can work together in networks for purposes such as traffic control, smart agriculture, surveillance and security systems, law enforcement, public safety and much more.
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, has appointed Dr. Sunil Sharma as physician-in-chief following a nearly three-decade career that spans the areas of research, drug and clinical trial development. Sharma succeeds Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff, a leading expert in pancreatic cancer who was instrumental in developing key clinical and research programs at TGen.
University of Arizona researchers from the College of Science and the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences have been developing a highly efficient
photovoltaic system that captures more heat and energy from sunlight than current solar panel models.