Michigan's Mobility Ecosystem Takes Center Stage at TechCrunch Mobility
PlanetM brought Michigan’s mobility ecosystem to San Jose for TechCrunch Mobility on July 10, touting the many mobility transformations and developments taking place in the state. PlanetM sponsored two sessions focused on the ongoing collaboration between Michigan and Silicon Valley.
Seun Phillips, managing director of PlanetM led a panel discussion that featured Alisyn Malek, COO and co-founder of May Mobility, Pauline Canteneur, business strategy analyst at FarmWise and Seth Winterroth, partner at Eclipse. The panelists discussed mobility trends and how they will impact the industry, innovative companies in Michigan, and the opportunities that await when Michigan and Silicon Valley team up to revolutionize the way we think about mobility-focused technology.
The PlanetM breakout session offered key insights into Michigan’s mobility ecosystem: the people, places and resources dedicated to the evolution of transportation mobility. Attendees had the opportunity to not only learn about the state’s mobility realm and the assistance programs, but also to connect with people and companies moving the world forward through technology innovation and collaboration - and how their businesses and startups can grow as a result of these collaborations.
Michigan was well-represented at the event. Alisyn Malek sat on a panel on Autonomous Robotaxis vs Shuttles, Ted Serbinski, Managing Director at Techstars Mobility, joined a panel discussion titled "Will Venture Capital Drive the Future of Mobility," and Ford’s CTO and Vice President of Research and Advanced Engineering Ken Washington was featured in a session titled "Rebuilding the Motor City." Closing out the day was an exciting and close-to-home announcement from Michigan-based startup, Refraction AI, on its new autonomous delivery vehicle, "Goldilocks."
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Volkswagen CEO Dr. Herbert Diess and Ford President and CEO
Jim Hackett. Image courtesy of Ford Motor Co.
Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG announced last week they are expanding their global alliance to include electric vehicles – and will collaborate with Argo AI to introduce autonomous vehicle technology in the U.S. and Europe.
Argo AI’s self-driving system (SDS) is the first with commercial deployment plans for Europe and the U.S. and has the largest geographic deployment potential of any autonomous driving technology to date. Argo AI’s focus remains on delivering an SAE Level 4-capable SDS to be applied for ride sharing and goods delivery services in dense urban areas.
Company leaders also announced Ford will become the first additional automaker to use Volkswagen’s dedicated electric vehicle architecture and Modular Electric Toolkit – or MEB – to deliver a high-volume zero-emission vehicle in Europe starting in 2023.
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MTRAC Awards Funding to Seven Transportation Technology Projects
The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) Innovation Hub for Advanced Transportation at the University of Michigan recently awarded a combined $640,000 in funding to seven high-tech, early-stage projects that will tackle opportunities from lightweighting to reducing internal combustion engine fuel to unnecessary personal consumer trips.
Funded through the Michigan Strategic Fund and administered by the MEDC, the MTRAC Innovation Hub for Advanced Transportation accelerates the development of advanced transportation projects to bring them closer to market.
As of June 2019, MTRAC programs have received 618 proposals, funded 287 projects, developed 44 startup companies, licensed 33 technologies to industry partners and secured more than $186 million in follow-on funding.
PlanetM, in partnership with Centrepolis Accelerator and Hardware Massive, hosted the inaugural Hardware Tech Summit during Detroit Startup Week at the Velodrome in downtown Detroit. More than 350 people from around the globe attended for the summit which featured 1:1 matchmaking, exhibits, keynotes and a $20,000 pitch competition.
The one-day conference highlighted top “physical product” innovators, local and global hardware-focused investors, Michigan manufacturers and engineering firms and other resources to help hardware innovators scale for success. Click below to watch a video with highlights from the event.
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Techstars Detroit announced the Class of 2019 represents a broad diversity of teams and technologies. In this fifth mentorship class, 40 percent of the teams have female founders and 60 percent are international companies. Business models are a mix of consumer, enterprise and governmental spanning industries that intersect with automotive and Detroit.
Supporting this program in 2019 are a diverse group of corporate partners including Lear Innovation Ventures, Ford X, AAA, Avanta Ventures, USAA, Nationwide, Honda and PlanetM.
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Meet the Techstars Detroit Class of 2019:
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Airspace Link – Detroit, MI
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Alpha Drive – New York, NY
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Le Car – Novi, MI
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Octane – Fremont, CA
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PRAP Manager – Chihuahua, Mexico
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Rucksack – Toronto, CA
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SoundTrack AI – Tel Aviv, Israel
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Teporto – Tel Aviv, Israel
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Unlimited Engineering – Barcelona, Spain
- Zown – Toronto, Canada
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NAIAS 2020 Begins Official Show Countdown, Announces Partnerships
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) executive director, Rod Alberts, and chairman, Doug North, hosted more than 300 OEM, industry and media partners on June 27 to celebrate the official countdown to the 2020 show, and announced multiple partnerships.
NAIAS 2020 will expand its presence beyond the halls of Cobo Center to an additional 1 million sq. ft. into Hart Plaza. The Crowne Plaza will serve as the official hub for content such as symposiums and panel discussions. During industry preview days – June 10-11 – industry and media attendees will hear from tech startups, automakers and industry experts on a wide-range of industry-impacting topics.
MEDC also announced the renewal of its partnership with NAIAS, including continued sponsorship of AutoMobili-D and the PlanetM technology exhibit. The PlanetM exhibit area will move to the main show floor in recognition of the increasing role tech and mobility companies have within the automotive industry.
The City of Detroit also announced the annual Detroit Moves event will run in conjunction with NAIAS, beginning in 2020. Detroit Moves, a partnership between key local players from the Quicken Loans Community Fund, Detroit Regional Chamber’s MICHauto, Detroit Mobility Lab, PlanetM, and the city of Detroit showcases mobility solutions for cities.
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Pratt & Miller, a new addition to the PlanetM Landing Zone in Detroit and recipient of the $8 Million Michigan Mobility Challenge, is partnering with Michigan-based companies to address the mobility needs of seniors, persons with disabilities and veterans, including the development of autonomous electric shuttles that are ADA compliant.
A sector of mobility with room for growth, the goal of the expanded focus is to improve transportation services for veterans at the Battle Creek Veterans Administration Medical Center. The company received a $2.1 million grant from the Michigan Mobility Challenge in January.
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Testing of its driverless vehicles in Battle Creek is scheduled to begin in September, helping shuttle veterans between 16 campus locations. The Battle Creek complex serves 42,000 veterans from 22 counties in southwestern Michigan. The shuttles are designed to seat four people or three with a wheelchair occupant.
For a limited time, the American Center for Mobility is running a promotional program offering a discount on pre-paid credits for testing or services for first-time clients. The program can be combined with the PlanetM Mobility Grant for testing. The promotional options are listed below.
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Credit Value
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Purchase Price
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Savings
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$100k
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$70k
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$30k (30%)
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$60k
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$45k
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$45k (25%)
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$40k
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$30k
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$10k (25%)
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$20k
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$15k
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$5k (25%)
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For more information, please contact Tracey Lynn Pearson at traceylynn.pearson@acmwillowrun.org.
Credits must be purchased by August 31, 2019, and be used within nine months of purchase. The number of credits offered to a single company may be limited on a case-by-case basis to ensure reasonable availability for all credit holders.
As part of AV19’s commitment to supporting cutting-edge technology in the automotive space, AV19 announced the first-of-its-kind Start-Up Launchpad, which will take place at the 2019 summit, August 21-23, 2019.
AV19 is looking for dynamic, cutting-edge startups to apply for a chance to pitch their ideas in front of the expert-led panel. AV19 is interested in hearing from companies working with solutions for autonomy, smart cities, V2X and V2V connectivity and communication, cybersecurity, IVI, mobility, data, safety, AI/ ML, testing and validation, or simulation. Applications will be judged on how innovative a product is and its impact within the automotive market.
Submit an application here by July 19, 2019, or contact Emily Taylor at emily.taylor@iqpc.com for more information.
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Detroit in 2069: What the future of mobility might actually look like
Read the latest from Trevor Pawl, Senior Vice President, Business Innovation at MEDC.
FAA Should Reconsider Michigan for Testing Drones
Read the latest from Jeremy Latchaw, President of Macatawa Unmanned Systems.
Waymo Partners With Renault And Nissan To Take Its Self-Driving Tech Global
Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving vehicle unit, is preparing to expand the scope of its autonomous tech efforts beyond the U.S. in a new partnership with the Renault-Nissan Alliance aimed at creating driverless mobility services for France and Japan.
Florida Gives the Green Light to Fully Autonomous Vehicles
A new bill signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will allow fully automated vehicles onto public roads, without a safety driver behind the wheel. The measure goes into effect July and is intended to put Florida in position to compete with states that already have a fleet of driverless cars like Arizona, California and Nevada.
Argo AI is investing $15 million into a self-driving car research center at CMU
Argo AI will invest $15 million over five years to create a center for autonomous vehicle research at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the latest efforts by the Ford-backed company to accelerate the development of self-driving cars. The center, Carnegie Mellon University Argo AI Center for Autonomous Vehicle Research, will focus on advanced perception and decision-making algorithms for autonomous vehicles, the company said Monday.
BMW and Daimler to team up in push toward self-driving cars
BMW and Mercedes-manufacturer Daimler announced a new partnership on Thursday to develop autonomous driving. Technicians from the two German auto giants will team up in a bid to develop self-driving technology. The engineers will work toward driver-assistance systems, automated driving on highways as well as parking. The firms say the technology will be specified to what industry insiders call SAE level 4.
Intel and the auto industry pen first safety rules for self-driving cars
Intel and a team of automotive companies have teamed up to create new guidelines for autonomous vehicles. The intention of the "Safety First Automated Driving" paper is to establish a framework of universal safety principles that all self-driving cars should abide by. The standards deal primarily with how the industry should monitor and report safety standards when building and operating autonomous cars.
Toyota and Denso form joint venture to develop self-driving hardware
Toyota has been all about teaming up lately, and the latest instance of that comes in the form of a new joint venture with one of its leading suppliers, Denso. This time out, the JV will be focusing on creating next-generation, automotive-grade semiconductors and other components that will power future self-driving cars, according to a report published Wednesday by Reuters.
Luminar Lands $100 Million Funding Boost To Ramp Up Lidar For Self-Driving Cars And Trucks
Luminar, a Silicon Valley-based maker of laser lidar sensors for self-driving vehicles, raised an additional $100 million and is marketing a new, affordable sensing and perception platform for automated passenger vehicles and commercial trucks to see their surroundings more accurately.
Reach out to our PlanetM team at PlanetM.com to connect to the people, places and resources dedicated to the evolution of transportation mobility.
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