Along with virtual and augmented reality and the Internet of Things, self-driving cars have been one of tech experts' go-to applications when explaining the utility of edge computing. Until not too long ago, Dean Nelson, who just left his job as head of computing infrastructure at Uber, also assumed autonomous vehicles, which can generate tens of terabytes of data per day, would shuffle much of that data to and from servers in their vicinity, relying on the processing power at the edge (and ultra-fast wireless networks) to augment their onboard computing muscle. But, after spending a few years up close and personal with the technology infrastructure that powers one of the front-running companies in the race to make driverless cars viable, he's no longer sure edge computing will play a big role. "In the last couple years I changed my mind with autonomous vehicles," Nelson said Thursday while sitting on a panel at DCD San Francisco, a data center industry conference. Earlier that day, he had announced in post on LinkedIn that he was leaving Uber to start his own consultancy and devote more time to family and the activities of Infrastructure Masons, the industry group for data center professionals he founded in 2016.

Civil Maps, creator of the world's first edge-based HD mapping and localization platform for self-driving cars, today announced it has teamed up with Renovo, the software technology company behind AWare, to provide highly automated vehicle makers and technology providers with seamless access to Civil Maps' vehicular cognition stack. Through this technical collaboration, self-driving systems and other automotive modules that integrate with Renovo's AWare, the first OS built specifically for automated mobility, will be immediately compatible with several key aspects of Civil Maps' platform, a lightweight, highly scalable solution to HD map creation, usage, and continental-scale crowdsourcing. Moving forward, the two companies will work together to standardize abstraction layers that sit between Civil Maps' mapping and localization systems and OEM sensor configurations, decision engines, human machine interfaces (HMIs), and control systems. This collaboration will result in a universal interface, architected by Renovo, that will provide plug-and-play compatibility with Civil Maps' vehicular cognition stack for all other modules in the fast-growing AWare ecosystem, thereby providing significant time and cost savings for developers. "Interoperability is the right direction for the industry and we are excited to take this step forward with Renovo," said Sravan Puttagunta, CEO and Co-founder of Civil Maps.

Last month, for the first time ever, a pedestrian was killed by an autonomous vehicle. Elaine Herzberg's death at the hands of a self-driving Uber vehicle in Arizona has spurred a crisis of conscience in the autonomous vehicle industry. Now, engineers and startups are scrambling to shift the focus to technology that they say could help prevent future self-driving collisions, especially as more and more autonomous vehicles are expected to hit the road in the future. One such startup is Renovo Auto, a Silicon Valley company that has developed an operating system that integrates all the software needed to run a fleet of autonomous vehicles. You might remember the Renovo Coupe, a $529,000 electric supercar with 1,000 pound-feet of torque and a 0–60 time of 3.4 seconds, or, more recently, its project to convert a DeLorean with an electric powertrain and then do autonomous donuts with it.

The Robotics Summit and Showcase is just a couple months away. Find out all about our agenda here and register by April 20 for a 20% discount to learn from the best in the robotics industry. Affectiva Automotive AI hopes to improve driver safety. Artificial intelligence (AI), to date, has helped autonomous vehicles mainly by monitoring the world around them. As we learned from the fatal Uber self-driving car crash, unfortunately, the technology is not perfect.

Verizon has long had a strong interest in connected cars, and it's no surprise as to why: it stands to make a lot of money if your ride is constantly transmitting drive data or streaming music. It would only make sense that the telecom wants in on self-driving cars, then. To that end, Verizon's venture wing has invested in Renovo, an automotive startup that has lately turned its attention to creating a platform that would help manage a whole fleet of autonomous vehicles. Renovo wouldn't be taking Tesla head-on with this tech -- it would be focused more on ridesharing and other services where driverless cars would need to work in harmony. The carrier hasn't said how much it's investing in Renovo, although it's part of a larger $10 million funding round.