Today Amazon announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire iRobot. iRobot has a history of making customers’ lives easier with innovative cleaning products for the home. iRobot has continued to innovate with every product generation, solving hard problems to help give customers valuable time back in their day.
“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love,” said Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices. “Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive—from cleaning when and where customers want while avoiding common obstacles in the home, to automatically emptying the collection bin. Customers love iRobot products—and I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.”
“Since we started iRobot, our team has been on a mission to create innovative, practical products that make customers’ lives easier, leading to inventions like the Roomba and iRobot OS,” saidColin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot. “Amazon shares our passion for building thoughtful innovations that empower people to do more at home, and I cannot think of a better place for our team to continue our mission. I’m hugely excited to be a part of Amazon and to see what we can build together for customers in the years ahead.”
Amazon will acquire iRobot for$61per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately$1.7 billion, including iRobot’s net debt. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by iRobot’s shareholders and regulatory approvals. On completion, Colin Angle will remain as CEO of iRobot.
Baidu’s fully driverless robotaxi providing service to the public on the open roads
China has granted permit to Baidu, Inc., to offer commercial fully driverless robotaxi services to the public on open roads. Apollo Go, Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service, is now authorized to collect fares for robotaxi rides – completely without human drivers in the car – in Chongqing and Wuhan, two of China’s largest megacities.
Amid increasing regulatory approval of the expansion of AVs, the permits reflect regulatory authorities’ strong recognition in the Baidu’s autonomous driving technology. They also mark a key turning point for the future of mobility in China, leading to an eventual expansion of driverless ride-hailing services to paying users across the country.
“Fully driverless cars providing rides on open roads to paying customers means we have finally come to the moment that the industry has been longing for. We believe these permits are a key milestone on the path to the inflection point when the industry can finally roll out fully autonomous driving services at scale,” Wei Dong, Vice President and Chief Safety Operation Officer of Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group.
About Apollo Go
Baidu unveiled its next-generation fully autonomous vehicle (AV) Apollo RT6, an all-electric, production-ready model with a detachable steering wheel about fifteen days ago, with a per unit cost of RMB 250,000 (~$37,000).
Baidu authorized to collect fares for robotaxi rides – completely without human drivers in the car.
“This massive cost reduction will enable us to deploy tens of thousands of AVs across China. We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today,” said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu.
The service area is set to expand to more than 300 stations by the end of 2022, meeting the ever-growing daily travel needs. Baidu has set an ambitious goal to expand Apollo Go operations into 65 cities across China by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030. Baidu aims to continue its efforts to collaborate with more cities and expand the footprint of Apollo Go, providing safer and better autonomous car services to more and more users.
Prioritizing passengers’ safety
Baidu has a proven track record of over 27 million kilometers (16 million miles) of road testing accumulated in the past 9 years with zero traffic accidents, including mileage recorded by driverless test cars in multiple cities across China as well as in California.
To receive the permits, Baidu’s robotaxis have undergone multiple steps of testing and licensing, starting from testing with a safety operator in the driving seat, to testing with a safety operator in the passenger seat, before finally receiving authorization to operate with no human driver or operator in the vehicle.
As the only company granted such permits from two Chinese megacities, Baidu’s robotaxis come with multi-layer mechanisms to ensure ultimate safety, including the autonomous driving system, monitoring redundancy, remote driving capability and a robust safety operation system, all of which are backed by a massive trove of real-world data including a total test mileage of over 32 million kilometers (~20 million miles) driven by Baidu’s AVs to date.
The permits were granted to Baidu by government agencies in Wuhan and Chongqing’s Yongchuan District. Both cities have been pioneering new approaches to intelligent transportation in recent years, from developing infrastructure to updating new regulations for AVs.
Having received the permits, Baidu will begin to provide fully driverless robotaxi services in the designated areas in Wuhan from 9 am to 5 pm, and Chongqing from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, with five Apollo 5th gen robotaxis operating in each city. The areas of service cover 13 square kilometers in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone, and 30 square kilometers in Chongqing’s Yongchuan District.
BorgWarner Inc. has acquired Rhombus Energy Solutions.
Headquartered in San Diego, California, Rhombus offers V2G and Underwriters Laboratory-certified charging. Rhombus supplies its patented technology to EV OEMs, including Proterra, and charging and grid service providers.
The transaction has an enterprise value of up to $185 million, which is being funded primarily with cash balances. Approximately $130 million was delivered at closing and up to $55 million could be paid in the form of contingent payments over the next 3 years.
“The technology that Rhombus brings expands BorgWarner’s electric vehicle portfolio in North America and complements our existing European charging business. This transaction supports our Charging Forward strategy and strengthens our electric vehicle positioning as we look to power the entire propulsion system from grid to wheels,” said Frédéric Lissalde, President and CEO of BorgWarner.
“As a supplier to the automotive and commercial vehicle markets, we are not only delivering innovative technology for electric drivetrains, but we are also focused on supporting certain key elements of the infrastructure for electric mobility, including charging.”
Fourteen cyclones since 2004, thousands of casualties, coastal flooding and torrential rainfall — Tamil Nadu has weathered many a storm in recent years. Though the State Government, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) have been chalking out mitigation strategies, an infrastructure upgrade is the need of the hour.
On December 30, 2021, the weather bulletin issued at noon in Chennai, predicted ‘light-to-moderate’ showers in some areas of the city. An alert issued a little later again warned that there would light-to-moderate rain at isolated places in Chennai and nearby districts for one or two hours. However, by the time an ‘orange alert’ was sounded, there was a heavy downpour in Chennai and three other districts, inundating most areas and leading to gridlocks. There was loss of property and human lives. Apparently, two of the three radars had not been working since November 6, 2021, and as per a report, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had been issuing conflicting predictions.
The state government relies on IMD for any weather-related information. But the department’s predictions have not been so accurate of late, and its failure to do so is costing the state dear as it is unable to put in pre-emptive efforts to save lives.
Technology upgrade is the need of the hour as in such a situation, not only is normal life crippled, but health services are also affected.
An automated weather station
On plans to set up a new weather station, Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, India Meteorological Department, said that like other states, Tamil Nadu too wants to improve its early warning system. “For instance, if we issue a warning, some action has to be taken, and to act as per the warning, a decent support system is required by districts, tehsils or blocks concerned. In addition to our automated stations, states are also establishing their own automated weather stations, which is why the Tamil Nadu government, too, wants to set up a similar weather station,” he said.
The automated weather station will be an observatory station, and will automatically record temperature, pressure, rainfall, etc. Mohapatra added, “IMD issues the forecast. No separate prediction is issued by Tamil Nadu. All our data is stored in GIS now. It is a collaborative work between IMD and the Tamil Nadu government. As per our guidance, we are working together and there is no separate meteorological facility. It will be augmented by setting up a few observatories by the Tamil Nadu government like any other government is doing. For instance, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Kerala and Karnataka are also working on it. So, if you go to smaller areas for forecast, we need more observations, which is why IMD is supported by the states concerned.”
Current infrastructure
“We have around 735 automated weather stations across the country. Then, there are 570 manned observatories, and 1,350 automated rain gauges. And, this number will keep going up. For the purpose, respective state governments are purchasing some equipment, but the cost of these cannot be commented upon,” Mohapatra said.
Referring to inaccurate predictions in Chennai on November 7 and December 30, 2021, he said a forecast cannot be 100% accurate always. “Over the years, if you look at the forecast accuracy of IMD, heavy rainfall warning has improved by 40% in the past five years. At present, we can predict heavy rainfall 20 hours in advance with 75% accuracy. Forecast accuracy is inaccurate worldwide, not only in India. Our target is that by the next five years, our forecast accuracy should improve by 10-15%.”
When asked about the weather station, Dr. S. Balachandran, DDGM, Head, RMC Chennai, said the project was part of their expansion plan. On the inaccurate predictions, the official said an error-free forecast is not always possible. “At present, we have 75 automatic rain gauges and 35 automated weather stations.”
Sharing his views, Nagaraj, MSSRF, said that for predictions to be precise, the equipment at weather stations needs to be updated. He also highlighted the poor drainage system plaguing the state for long: “The Cooum river has become highly polluted. Flooding has made its condition even worse.”
The automated weather station will be an observatory station and will automatically record temperature, pressure, rainfall, etc.
Data collection
A lot of data is sent to Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models for analysis. Observations are made round the clock in three dimensions. Observatories, which are under the surface of the earth, take measurements. Also, balloons and sensors are used to generate upper air data by tracking with radars. There are, at present, 33 radars for weather in the country. There are also two satellites — INSAT 3D and INSAT 3DR. In addition, international satellites are also used for the purpose of collecting data.
Western Ghats block most rain-bearing clouds
The northeast monsoon is responsible for most of the rainfall in the state as winds and rain-bearing clouds come from the Bay of Bengal, which ensures good rain activity over Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, the southwest monsoon has a minimal role to play in the state’s rain pattern.
About 48% of the annual rainfall is received during the northeast monsoon from October to December. Only the Nilgiri areas get rain from the southwest monsoon as winds are obstructed by the Western Ghats that dominate the entire western border with Kerala, effectively blocking much of the rain-bearing clouds from entering the state. The eastern parts are fertile coastal plains. The northern parts are a mix of hills and plains. The central and the south-central regions are arid plains.
CM’s letter to the Centre
Following IMD’s alleged failure in warning the authorities about the heavy showers that lashed Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging the Centre to take steps to rectify some lapses on part of the regional wing of the IMD in predicting rainfall.
Stalin pointed at the “need for making additional investments in advanced weather prediction mechanisms and upgradation of technology being used in IMCs (Indian Meteorological Centres).”
He also urged the Centre to enhance the capacity of the weather forecast center in Chennai to enable it to make predictions in high alert situations and to inform the state government well in time.
