KAUST, Partners Develop Self-driving Mobility Platform

The long-term vision of the partnership is to have an onging, collaborative platform for research exchange to improve self-driving technologies
The long-term vision of the partnership is to have an onging, collaborative platform for research exchange to improve self-driving technologies
TT
20

KAUST, Partners Develop Self-driving Mobility Platform

The long-term vision of the partnership is to have an onging, collaborative platform for research exchange to improve self-driving technologies
The long-term vision of the partnership is to have an onging, collaborative platform for research exchange to improve self-driving technologies

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Intel and Brightskies have collaborated to develop self-driving mobility platform with launching REDD, a strategic initiative that puts research innovations in artificial intelligence to the test in a proof-of-concept, self-driving vehicle.

REDD is the outcome of a strategic collaborative initiative between KAUST Smart, Intel and Brightskies to raise the bar of the autonomous mobility challenge by converting a conventional car into a self-driving car with integrated artificial intelligence (AI) software.

The long-term vision of the partnership is to have an onging, collaborative platform for research exchange to improve self-driving technologies - goals what part of the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

The three entities have combined their efforts, leveraging KAUST expertise and utilizing its campus as a living lab for this pilot project. KAUST also participated in the design of the user experience. This project builds on prior “firsts” in automation at KAUST.

In partnership with international autonomous vehicles makers, KAUST was the first institution in the Kingdom to test autonomous bus shuttles on its campus, and extended autonomous research to drones and self-driving lockers to test last mile delivery.

Brightskies has been the main developer of the self-driving system, powered by Intel® NUC platforms.

“The self-driving mobility platform provides a capability to develop an ecosystem of talent, research and applied solutions within the region. It's a great step towards tackling self-driving challenges. It's also a platform that allows new and innovative ideas to grow,” said director of KAUST Smart Mohamed Abdel-Aal.

The KAUST vehicle will use a Beta version of BrightDrive, a self-driving system developed in-house by Brightskies and initially launched in 2020. KAUST researchers are expected to use this vehicle as an innovation platform in order to deploy and test new techniques for a better road experience. BrightDrive contains features required for the safety of the autonomous trip and optimal user experience, including environment sensing and perception, centimeter level localization, and high-definition (HD) mapping, path planning and motion control.

Researchers will have access to data gathered by the self-driving car to help fine-tune their existing models. Data coming from an actual car tested on a road instead of from a synthetically created scenario will advance research and, in turn, vehicle responsiveness toward the goal of making self-driving cars efficient, reliable and safe.

“The advanced processing power and seamless integration of sensors over the Intel® NUC could make this innovation a reality,” said Hossam Yahia, vice president of autonomous driving at Brightskies.

The KAUST campus is an ideal test site because it represents a small city with the kinds of diverse driving scenarios that a self-driving developer needs, including standard road features such as traffic signs, traffic lights and driving laws that prioritize the safety of humans, pedestrians and bicyclists. To date the vehicle has been traveling through the small city day and night, encountering unexpected scenarios, and the advanced AI system has been successfully able to detect the environment and react in a safe and efficient way.

“Intel is very excited to collaborate with KAUST and Brightskies on AI developments for autonomous driving — a collaboration that we believe is aligned with and will support Saudi’s Vision 2030,” said General Manager of Intel, Saudi Arabia Ahmad Al Abduljabbar said.

“The pilot project will also enrich the local research talent with a customizable platform for their algorithms, which will prepare them to play a role in the global automotive industry,” he added.



Record 2024 Temperatures Accelerate Ice Loss, Rise in Sea Levels, UN Weather Body Says 

New York University student researchers sit on a rock overlooking the Helheim glacier in Greenland, Aug. 16, 2019. (AP)
New York University student researchers sit on a rock overlooking the Helheim glacier in Greenland, Aug. 16, 2019. (AP)
TT
20

Record 2024 Temperatures Accelerate Ice Loss, Rise in Sea Levels, UN Weather Body Says 

New York University student researchers sit on a rock overlooking the Helheim glacier in Greenland, Aug. 16, 2019. (AP)
New York University student researchers sit on a rock overlooking the Helheim glacier in Greenland, Aug. 16, 2019. (AP)

Record greenhouse gas levels helped bring temperatures to an all-time high in 2024, accelerating glacier and sea ice loss, raising sea levels and edging the world closer to a key warming threshold, the UN weather body said on Wednesday.

Annual average mean temperatures stood at 1.55 degrees Celsius (2.79 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels last year, surpassing the previous 2023 record by 0.1C, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its annual climate report.

Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement to strive to limit temperature increases to within 1.5C above the 1850-1900 average.

Preliminary estimates put the current long-term average increase at between 1.34-1.41C, closing in on but not yet exceeding the Paris threshold, the WMO said.

"One thing to point out very clearly is that one single year above 1.5 degrees doesn't mean that the level mentioned in the Paris agreement had been formally exceeded," said John Kennedy, WMO's scientific coordinator and lead author of the report.

But uncertainty ranges in the data mean that it cannot be ruled out, he said during a briefing.

The report said other factors could also have driven global temperature rises last year, including changes in the solar cycle, a massive volcanic eruption and a decrease in cooling aerosols.

While a small number of regions saw temperatures fall, extreme weather wreaked havoc across the globe, with droughts causing food shortages and floods and wildfires forcing the displacement of 800,000 people, the highest since records began in 2008.

Ocean heat also reached its highest on record and the rate of warming is accelerating, with rising ocean CO2 concentrations also driving up acidification levels.

Glaciers and sea ice continued to melt at a rapid rate, which in turn pushed sea levels to a new high. From 2015 to 2024, sea levels have risen by an average of 4.7 millimeters a year, compared to 2.1mm from 1993 to 2002, WMO data showed.

Kennedy also warned of the long-term implications of melting ice in Arctic and Antarctic regions.

"Changes in those regions potentially can affect the kind of overall circulation of the oceans, which affect climate around the world," he said. "What happens in the poles doesn't necessarily stay at the poles."