Latest news with #safetytesting
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Waabi introduces mixed reality testing system for autonomous truck safety
Waabi, an autonomous trucking technology leader, has introduced a new mixed reality testing (MRT) system that transforms the way autonomous vehicles are tested. The technology works by blending physical test environments with sophisticated virtual scenarios. In an interview with FreightWaves, Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi, recently talked about how this technology creates virtual scenarios for autonomous trucks operating on physical test tracks. 'In the industry, we often talk about driving in the physical world as one type of testing, and we also discuss simulation, where we run scenarios in the cloud at scale,' said Urtasun. 'But one aspect that's discussed less is how safety testing is really done today, and that's where mixed reality comes in.' Traditional safety testing for vehicles has remained largely unchanged for a century. Testing teams bring vehicles to closed tracks and conduct a limited number of scripted scenarios that require complex coordination similar to movie stunts. A downside to this approach is that it yields minimal test diversity, offers poor repeatability and avoids truly dangerous scenarios to prevent damage to test vehicles. It's also expensive. Waabi's MRT system overcomes these limitations by intercepting sensor data from the physical world and blending it with simulation. This creates an environment where autonomous trucks can safely encounter virtually unlimited dangerous situations without physical risk. 'Imagine putting goggles on a self-driving vehicle so it sees things that aren't there but reacts to them,' Urtasun explained. 'Suddenly, you can expose the system to unavoidable accidents and scenarios impossible to stage safely in the real world.' In a blog post, Waabi adds that the technology enables instantaneous creation of complex scenarios including traffic jams, dangerous driving behaviors and unpredictable pedestrian movements. The secret sauce is the use of generative AI and neural simulations rather than traditional physics-based simulation to achieve the required level of realism. This allows Waabi to create thousands of tests as vehicles drive continuously on a test track, generating precise performance metrics automatically. This technology has significantly accelerated Waabi's development process as the company reached feature-complete status earlier this year. Waabi's autonomous system now has all capabilities needed to operate without a human driver. Only Waabi and Aurora have reached this milestone in long-haul trucking. These developments come as Waabi announced back in February a strategic partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to jointly develop and deploy autonomous trucks. To date, Toronto-based Waabi has raised a total of $280 million, with its most recent round, a $200 million Series B back in 2024, including participation from strategic investors Nvidia, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Scania Invest and Ingka Investments, among others. The post Waabi introduces mixed reality testing system for autonomous truck safety appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Broken String Biosciences Renews Commitment to NIST Genome Editing Consortium, Bolstering Efforts to Standardize Gene Editing Safety
BOSTON & CAMBRIDGE, England, August 05, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Broken String Biosciences ("Broken String"), a leader in advancing gene editing safety, today announced its formal re-engagement as a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Genome Editing Consortium. Broken String plays a key role in developing the gold-standard of safety testing for gene-editing therapies, based on its INDUCE-seq® platform. INDUCE-seq is commercially deployed today to address a critical challenge in the safe development of gene therapies: identifying unintended edits that may activate oncogenes or disable tumor suppressors. Broken String's participation in the NIST Genome Editing Consortium is part of the company's efforts to shape industry-wide safety standards for emerging genome editing technologies, including CRISPR, base editing, and prime editing. The company continues to partner with the consortia and other leaders in the field to publish findings and engage with regulators to promote greater understanding and adoption of its breakthrough technology. One such effort is the cross-sector Health and Environmental Sciences Institute Cell and Gene Therapy – Tracking, Circulation, & Safety (HESI CT-TRACS) Committee, where 30 like-minded partner companies – including major biopharma partners – are helping advance breakthrough technologies that improve human health. "Gene editing holds enormous promise, but without standardized tools to assess both on- and off-target edits, developers will continue to face challenges in demonstrating safety to regulators and the public," said Felix Dobbs, CEO and co-founder of Broken String. "Our ongoing collaboration with NIST and leading industry partners such as AstraZeneca and Novartis underscores the urgency of our work. We believe that implementing INDUCE-seq early in the development process can significantly reduce the risk of costly regulatory holds and adverse effects, protecting both patient safety and business investment. This is how we help realize the full potential of life-changing gene therapies." This renewed collaboration underscores Broken String's commitment to advancing the safety and standardization of gene-editing therapies through its innovative INDUCE-seq platform. INDUCE-seq is a technology intended to help standardize the gene therapy industry. The NIST Genome Editing Consortium is dedicated to generating crucial data that Broken String believes will highlight the superior features of INDUCE-seq, a PCR-free platform that enables unbiased, high-resolution detection of double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs). This includes its reproducibility, robustness, and sensitivity, surpassing existing approaches in off-target detection. For more information on the NIST Genome Editing Consortium, visit About Broken String Biosciences Broken String Biosciences is advancing more precise, safe, and effective cell and gene therapies through its cutting-edge technology platforms. The company's core platform, INDUCE-seq®, was developed as the new gold standard for precise mapping of DNA breaks to measure and quantify on- and off-target genetic edits, crucial for ensuring the efficacy and safety of advanced therapies from discovery through commercialization. Broken String Biosciences was spun out of Cardiff University by genomics experts. The company is venture-funded and has raised $20 million to date. To learn more about the company, visit About INDUCE-seq® Broken String Bioscience's INDUCE-seq® enables direct, cell-based measurements of on-target and off-target edits directly from a clinically relevant biological system. This ensures therapy developers can characterize safety and efficacy as early as discovery, before committing substantial budgets and time to preclinical or clinical trials. The technology also allows for off-target assessments tailored to a patient's specific genotype, enabling developers to bring safety evaluations closer to the patient. This capability supports faster, more targeted treatments, helping to accelerate progress in life-saving therapies. Through Broken String's Early Access Program, select partners with gene editing therapies in development can experience many of INDUCE-seq®'s advantages over existing approaches. For more information, visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact brokenstringbio@ Sign in to access your portfolio
Globe and Mail
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- Globe and Mail
Faraday Future Kicks Off Trial Production Phase of its FX Super One MPV at its Hanford, CA Manufacturing Facility, Advancing Engineering and Safety Testing
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (NASDAQ: FFAI) ('Faraday Future', 'FF' or the 'Company'), a California-based global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company, today announced that its newly-unveiled First Class EAI-MPV model, the FX Super One, has commenced its trial production phase at its Hanford, CA factory. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Faraday Future Kicks Off Trial Production Phase of its FX Super One MPV at its Hanford, CA Manufacturing Facility, Advancing Engineering and Safety Testing. The trial production phase is primarily focused on planning and verifying production processes, operational workflows, and quality standards. In parallel, engineers and production staff at the Hanford factory are undergoing specialized training to support production readiness. Following this phase, the Company will proceed with comprehensive vehicle engineering of the vehicle, which includes extensive safety testing and validation. These efforts are integral to ensuring that the FX Super One meets the highest standards of quality, performance, safety, and the end user experience. The FX Super One was unveiled on July 17 in Los Angeles and showcased the Super EAI F.A.C.E. (Front AI Communication Ecosystem) and the FF EAI Embodied AI Agent 6x4 Architecture. The vehicle is positioned as an EAI-MPV that aims to redefine the traditional mobility experience long dominated by models such as the Cadillac Escalade. Faraday Future's current 1.1 million-square-foot manufacturing and production facility in Hanford, California, named 'FF ieFactory California,' has approximately $300 million invested so far in the multi-use facility, and with additional investment and permitting, could become capable of producing more than 30,000 vehicles annually. The Company's Hanford factory could prepare a flexible production line for FX units, including FF. The facility would support mixed-line manufacturing or assembly for multiple models. The Company recently completed a new round of financing commitment totaling $105 million, which is expected to nearly cover the launch of the FX Super One. ABOUT FARADAY FUTURE Faraday Future is a California-based global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company. Founded in 2014, the Company's mission is to disrupt the automotive industry by creating a user-centric, technology-first, and smart driving experience. Faraday Future's flagship model, the FF 91, exemplifies its vision for luxury, innovation, and performance. The FX strategy aims to introduce mass production models equipped with state-of-the-art luxury technology similar to the FF 91, targeting a broader market with middle-to-low price range offerings. FF is committed to redefining mobility through AI innovation. Join us in shaping the future of intelligent transportation. For more information, please visit FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release includes 'forward looking statements' within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words 'could,' 'will,' 'should,' and 'future,' variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding production capacity expansion, the FX brand, the Super One MPV, future FX models, future FX reservations, expansion into new states and markets, and production and sales goals, are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside the Company's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.
Associated Press
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Crash dummies used in car safety tests are still modeled after men despite higher risks for women
Maria Weston Kuhn had one lingering question about the car crash that forced her to have emergency surgery during a vacation in Ireland: Why did she and her mother sustain serious injuries while her father and brother, who sat in the front, emerge unscathed? 'It was a head-on crash and they were closest to the point of contact,' said Kuhn, now 25, who missed a semester of college to recover from the 2019 collision that caused her seat belt to slide off her hips and rupture her intestines by pinning them against her spine. 'That was an early clue that something else was going on.' When Kuhn returned home to Maine, she found an article her grandma had clipped from Consumer Reports and left on her bed. Women are 73% more likely to be injured in a frontal crash, she learned, yet the dummy used in vehicle tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration dates back to the 1970s and is still modeled almost entirely off the body of a man. A survivor becomes an activist Kuhn, who is starting law school at New York University this fall, took action and founded the nonprofit Drive US Forward. Its aim was to raise public awareness and eventually encourage members of Congress to sign onto a bill that would require NHTSA to incorporate a more advanced female dummy into its testing. The agency has the final word on whether cars get pulled from the market, and the kind of dummy used in its safety tests could impact which ones receive coveted five-star ratings. 'It seems like we have an easy solution here where we can have crash test dummies that reflect an average woman as well as a man,' Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican who has introduced the legislation the past two sessions, told The Associated Press. Senators from both parties have signed onto Fischer's 'She Drives Act,' and the transportation secretaries from the past two presidential administrations have expressed support for updating the rules. But for various reasons, the push for new safety requirements has been moving at a sluggish pace. That's particularly true in the U.S., where much of the research is happening and where around 40,000 people are killed each year in car crashes. Evolution of a crash test dummy The crash test dummy currently used in NHTSA five-star testing is called the Hybrid III, which was developed in 1978 and modeled after a 5-foot-9, 171-pound man (the average size in the 1970s but about 29 pounds lighter than today's average). What's known as the female dummy is essentially a much smaller version of the male model with a rubber jacket to represent breasts. It's routinely tested in the passenger seat or the back seat but seldom in the driver's seat, even though the majority of licensed drivers are women. 'What they didn't do is design a crash test dummy that has all the sensors in the areas where a woman would be injured differently than a man,' said Christopher O'Connor, president and CEO of the Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Humanetics Group, which has spent more than a decade developing and refining one. A female dummy from Humanetics equipped with all of the available sensors costs around $1 million, about twice the cost of the Hybrid used now. But, O'Connor says, the more expensive dummy far more accurately reflects the anatomical differences between the sexes — including in the shape of the neck, collarbone, pelvis, and legs, which one NHTSA study found account for about 80% more injuries by women in a car crash compared to men. Such physical dummies will always be needed for vehicle safety tests, and to verify the accuracy of virtual tests, O'Connor said. Europe incorporated the more advanced male dummy developed by Humanetics' engineers, the THOR 50M (based on a 50th percentile man), into its testing procedures soon after Kuhn's 2019 crash in Ireland. Several other countries, including China and Japan, have adopted it as well. But that model and the female version the company uses for comparison, the THOR 5F (based on a 5th percentile woman), have been met with skepticism from some American automakers who argue the more sophisticated devices may exaggerate injury risks and undercut the value of some safety features such as seat belts and airbags. A debate over whether more sensors mean more safety Bridget Walchesky, 19, had to be flown to a hospital, where she required eight surgeries over a month, after a 2022 crash near her home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, that killed her friend, who was driving. While acknowledging the seat belt likely saved her life, Walchesky said some of the injuries — including her broken collarbone — were the result of it pinning her too tightly, which she views as something better safety testing focused on women could improve. 'Seat belts aren't really built for bodies on females,' Walchesky said. 'Some of my injuries, the way the force hit me, they were probably worsened.' The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, said in a statement to the AP that the better way to ensure safety — which it called its top priority — is through upgrades to the existing Hybrid dummy rather than mandating a new one. 'This can happen on a faster timeline and lead to quicker safety improvements than requiring NHTSA to adopt unproven crash test dummy technology,' the alliance said. Humanetics' THOR dummies received high marks in the vehicle safety agency's early tests. Using cadavers from actual crashes to compare the results, NHTSA found they outperformed the existing Hybrid in predicting almost all injuries — including to the head, neck, shoulders, abdomen and legs. A separate review by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research arm funded by auto insurers, was far more critical of the dummy's ability to predict chest injuries in a frontal crash. Despite the vast expansion in the number of sensors, the insurance institute's testing found, the male THOR dummy was less accurate than the current Hybrid dummies, which also had limitations. 'More isn't necessarily better,' said Jessica Jermakian, senior vice president for vehicle research at IIHS. 'You also have to be confident that the data is telling you the right things about how a real person would fare in that crash.' The slow pace of changing the rules NHTSA's budget plan commits to developing the female THOR 5F version with the ultimate goal of incorporating it into the testing. But there could be a long wait considering the THOR's male version adopted by other countries is still awaiting final approval in the U.S. A 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office, which conducts research for Congress, cited numerous 'missed milestones' in NHTSA's development of various crash dummy enhancements — including in the THOR models. Kuhn acknowledges being frustrated by the slow process of trying to change the regulations. She says she understands why there's reluctance from auto companies if they fear being forced to make widespread design changes with more consideration for women's safety. 'Fortunately, they have very skilled engineers and they'll figure it out,' she said.
Auto Car
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
How to safely 'puncture' a tyre at 87mph
Autonomous and semi-autonomous cars bring with them new methods of safety testing. What happens, for example, if a tyre deflates suddenly when the car is doing the driving rather than the human and how well will it cope? US firm Koala Technologies has developed a new piece of equipment that enables a road tester to deflate a tyre by remote control from within the car. The kit meets the requirements of existing regulations, including the FMVSS 110 US federal standard. Specifically, this US regulation is intended to ensure tyres have sufficient load-carrying capacity and are appropriate for the kind of use the vehicle gets. It also verifies that a tyre remains on the rim when it deflates at speed. Koala Technologies' new kit also meets the emerging standards for EV lateral stability tests with and without the motor engaged, which are already mandatory in some markets, such as China. Called the Bloom, the kit is mounted to the wheel of a vehicle, which could be a car or larger, and has a central air ejector valve with a volume and flow capacity designed to emulate a sudden loss of pressure due to tyre failure. The equipment is plumbed into the inside of the tyre by tubes and connectors screwed into the rim. When the operator presses a button, the valve opens, causing instant deflation, just as if the tyre suffered a real-world blowout. The equipment is designed to be a reusable turnkey system that gives repeatable results. Koala says the kit has a number of advantages over existing methods, which usually involve destroying multiple tyres. A traditional approach taken at proving grounds is to drive a vehicle so that two wheels on one side run over a series of aggressive 'cleats', which rapidly deflate and destroy a pair of tyres. There are two problems with that. One is that stability tests may require one tyre to be deflated, leaving the other three intact, so deflating two on one side may not work for certain tests. The other is the cost and sustainability issue of trashing two tyres instead of one. Bloom avoids that and can be installed on any corner of the vehicle. Although it involves modifications to one of the car's rims to install the connectors and tubes from the central valve, Koala provides a wheel set-up service, if testers want it. Rapid tyre deflation can be triggered from inside a vehicle or remotely and works with tyre pressures of up to 100psi and at up to 87mph.
