Automotive

Arctan, a solar-powered car built by undergraduate members of the Stanford Solar Car Project, placed sixth in the 2015 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a nearly 2,000-mile race across the Australian outback.

Stanford was among 30 teams from around the world that competed in the Challenger Class, single-passenger cars built for sustained endurance and total energy efficiency. Other U.S. competitors came from MIT, the University of Michigan and Principia College.

Here are the top six finalists:

Last modified Fri, 30 Oct, 2015 at 15:51

Stanford engineers built an autonomous DeLorean capable of stable, precise drifting at large angles in order to study how cars perform in extreme situations, which could ultimately guide the development of autonomous safety protocols.

If you're going to build an autonomous, electric, drifting automotive research vehicle, why not do it with some style?

Last modified Wed, 21 Oct, 2015 at 13:27

Connected Automation: Transforming Transportation Safety

A discussion with Mark Rosekind, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Wednesday, September 30

Automotive Innovation Facility

473 Oak Rd. Stanford, CA 94305

Reception at  5:00 pm

Discussion begins at 6:00 pm

Last modified Fri, 25 Sep, 2015 at 13:05

Led by Associate Professor Fei-Fei Li, the new SAIL-Toyota Center for AI Research will focus on teaching computers to see and make critical decisions about how to interact with the world. At the outset, research will address intelligent robotics and autonomous cars.

Artificial intelligence is integrated into daily life, although often in imperceptible ways, such as language translators or algorithms that provide shopping tips based on past purchases. The next wave of AI-enabled devices that interact with humans will be far more obvious – think intelligent robotics and autonomous cars – and will become a driving force in reshaping society and individual lives.

Last modified Thu, 10 Sep, 2015 at 12:57

The best way to survive a car accident is to avoid collisions in the first place. Professor Chris Gerdes' engineering students are developing algorithms and pop-up obstacles that could lead to safe autonomous driving.

One promise of autonomous driving is not to simply survive accidents, but to avoid them altogether. With that in mind, Stanford engineering students have been testing an obstacle-avoidance algorithm using a pop-up obstacle they rigged up from a tablecloth and a leaf blower.

Last modified Sat, 25 Jul, 2015 at 21:20

Friday, July 10, 5:30 pm

VAIL, 473 Oak Road, Stanford

Last modified Wed, 1 Jul, 2015 at 14:03

Student team prepares car to compete in an international race across the Australian outback.

Stanford’s student-built solar-powered race car is about to be unveiled. The student team has been preparing the car to compete in an international race across the Australian outback.

On July 12 at 5:30 p.m. the Stanford Solar Car Project (SSCP) will unveil Luminos at the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory at Stanford University. Members of the news media are invited to preview the car and interview team members July 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Last modified Tue, 9 Jul, 2013 at 13:16

The Brazilian-born Ghosn is CEO of not one but two car companies, France’s Renault and Japan’s Nissan, makers of the Leaf, the first mass produced all-electric vehicle in the world. He said the car of tomorrow will be "more like a pet than a machine."

To hear Carlos Ghosn tell it, the car of the future will recognize your voice and respond to subtle hand gestures. It will sense when you are falling asleep behind the wheel and it will brake when the car ahead slows unexpectedly. It will know your favorite song and how you like your seat adjusted. In short, your car will know you.

Last modified Mon, 17 Jun, 2013 at 9:13

This lecture highlights our future challenges for mobility. Professor Leohold, Executive Director of the Volkswagen Group, will present an exciting portfolio of automobile research topics ranging from powertrain technologies, vehicle concepts and opportunities for weight reduction, to automated driving as a future challenge. Each one of these subjects promises to re-invent the automobile in ways which are infinitely cleaner, safer and smarter than those we drive today.

Last modified Fri, 5 Apr, 2013 at 14:51

A new course in mechanical engineering explores product design and manufacturing through the restoration of an old Cadillac DeVille.

The course description for a new seminar in mechanical engineering describes exploration into topics of design and manufacturing, and tells students they will consider questions of American identity and history.

Then it says this: Every student can expect to get his or her hands dirty.

"This quarter we decided to try something a little different, a little scary," says Greg Kress, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering who is helping teach the class.

Last modified Fri, 24 Aug, 2012 at 13:03