Nearly every company across every industry is looking for new ways to minimize human contact, cut costs and address the labor crunch in repetitive and dangerous jobs. WSJ explores why many are looking to robots as the solution for all three.
Photo: FedEx
Autonomous-vehicle road testing has skidded to a halt in the U.S. amid the Covid-19 pandemic. But China’s startups have pushed ahead by more than doubling the number of self-driving car projects, with a boost from the country’s 5G network.
Photo: Lorenz Huber for The Wall Street Journal
You can enjoy everything about your Bevi machine with touchless dispensing from your mobile. Available July 13th for all new and existing Bevi machines.
TikTok is the most downloaded app of 2020, as quarantines have spurred more and more users to hop onboard and learn about the latest dance trends and memes. But the app also faces a slew of regulatory hurdles, privacy concerns, and allegations of censorship, issues experts say will be new CEO Kevin Mayer’s top priority.
From a Yanko Design article (June 3, 2020):
This electric motorcycle is designed for long-distance journeys keeping in mind any tough conditions that can come up on the way. The aesthetic has been inspired by the iconic Ural motorcycles with the designer adding his own modern twist on the post-WWII BMW customs…it swaps the traditional passenger cart for a sidecar which will be equipped with tools and essential gear. The extra storage space also includes straps to hold down the cargo or tools you are carrying and with a flat base, there is room for extra batteries too.
We love seeing designers get creative with electric bikes! Each one is unique with its features and our current favorite is this conceptual electric BMW Motorrad blended with El Solitario MC elements that is nothing like we’ve seen before in the e-bike world. It is bringing retro sidecars back with a cool new makeover!
From a Stanford Engineering article (April 8, 2020):
Companies that structure themselves as location-independent have developed norms and practices that bridge the emotional and logistical distances. The same is true for their workers. For such companies, remote-only work can reduce costs, expand the talent pool and boost productivity. By contrast, being forced by a crisis to work remotely is likely to be disruptive and frustrating. It may be better than shutting down, but it will likely lead to a big drop in productivity.
In the span of a single month, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies and organizations of all types to have almost all of their employees work remotely from home.
Has the future of work, the all-remote workforce and even the virtual organization, arrived in full force? Though online technologies have made remote work increasingly common, most companies and organizations are still run out of brick-and-mortar facilities. Now they are scrambling to stand up virtual workspaces overnight.
18th February 2020: Jaguar Land Rover has today unveiled the bold new concept vehicle, Project Vector, as part of the company’s Destination Zero journey, offering its vision of an autonomous, electric, connected future for urban mobility.
Jaguar Land Rover’s Destination Zero mission is an ambition to make societies safer and healthier, and the environment cleaner. Delivered through relentless innovation, the company’s focus is on achieving a future of zero emissions, zero accidents and zero congestion – through its products, services and across its facilities. As the next stage of that journey, the Project Vector concept showcases an advanced, flexible, multi-use electric vehicle that is ‘autonomy-ready’.
The compact, flexible vehicle concept measuresjust four metres in length and is designed for the city, packaging all its battery and drivetrain components into a flat floor, to allow a variety of uses. The revolutionary interior cabin space allows seating configurations for private, or shared use and even the opportunity for commercial applications, such as last mile deliveries.
Feb.18 — In the series “EVs: The Brink of Change”, Bloomberg’s Alix Steel breaks down electric vehicles – what’s in them, how they work, their range, and cost of certain models.
Boomers Daily 