Reference no: EM131495817

Please read the article attached and the link below:

https://spectrum.ieee.org/transportation/self-driving/after-mastering-singapores-streets-nutonomys-robotaxis-are-poised-to-take-on-new-cities

A New York Times article on February 1, 2017 reported that Daimler has agreed to build self-driving cars for Uber. This is the first time that a major automaker will build an autonomous vehicle to operate on Uber's network. Daimler can produce autonomous cars for other organizations; the deal is not restricted to Uber. Uber says that it really needs companies like Daimler since building a car is really hard and it has no experience doing so.

In February of 2016 Ford announced it was investing $1 billion over five years in Argo, an artificial intelligence startup that is focused on developing autonomous vehicle technology (New York Times, 2/11/2017). "The move comes as Ford positions itself as not just a manufacturer of cars, but as a provider of 'mobility services,' enabling people to get around without owning cars."

Dubai is going one better: it is planning drone taxis that skip the roads (New York Times, 2/15/2017). The eight rotor drone can carry a single rider and a small suitcase of 220 pound passenger weight. It will travel 30 miles at about 60 miles an hour on a 30 minute single battery charge. The drone runs on autopilot and is monitored via a command center.

Given the IEEE article and the paragraph above, please answer the following questions.  Please double-space with 12 point type. Each question is worth 20 points.

1. What technologies are required to operate an autonomous network of vehicles like a taxi fleet?

2. What are the major challenges to be overcome for an autonomous fleet to be successful?

3. What incumbents are threatened by this new business model and what actions have they taken in response? What countries are threatened?

4. What is the second order impact of autonomous vehicles? For example, what industries and jobs are likely to be impacted?

5. The IEEE article talks about changes in cities. Write a scenario of what an urban area will look like if autonomous vehicles become a huge success.

Answers should be minimum 1 page per question. This paper will be submitted to www.turnitin.com so please, no plagiarism, only original work should be provided.