Welcome back to The Stack, Argo AI’s monthly newsletter covering our latest autonomous vehicle news, technology explainers, and job opportunities. Subscribe here.
“A really nice experience,” is the kind of review any business would hope to receive. But it meant even more in this case, coming from Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, right after he took his first-ever ride in an autonomous, all-electric VW ID. Buzz made in collaboration with Argo.
The ride in the newly reborn iconic van took place earlier this month in Munich, Germany, where we’ve been testing the Argo Autonomy Platform, our self-driving hardware and software system, on the city’s streets for the past seven months. Argo and VW have been working together on developing autonomous vehicles (AVs) for passenger ride-pooling service MOIA in Hamburg, but this was the first time Diess had the chance to take one of our AVs for a spin — and you know what they say about the importance of first impressions!
Also in Buzz news: Auto writer Doug Newcomb went for his own ride in a human-driven ID. Buzz at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin (one of the first cities where customers will be able to hail an Argo AV through Lyft) and was enchanted by the vehicle’s retro-futuristic styling and attention to detail. Read his take at Ground Truth.
We’re raising a glass of sweet tea to the news that Argo announced a $2.6 million investment to bring a new autonomous vehicle test track to Greenville County, South Carolina — our first specifically focused on highway speeds.
Testing autonomous technology on a closed course is an important part of our safe self-driving development process, and we’re thrilled to be able to add a new location in addition to our existing test tracks in Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, and Munich, Germany.
By offering the ability to test at highway speeds, the Argo Greenville County test track will help expand the operational capabilities of the Argo Autonomy Platform, our self-driving hardware and software system, to more types of roads. And, the project is expected to create 40 new jobs in the state. We can’t wait to get it up and running.
…figuratively, of course! On April 28, Argo celebrated our annual Kids Takeover Day. Our own version of “take your kid to work day,” this special single-day celebration saw the children of Argo employees visit our offices in the U.S. and Germany and join in virtually to play games with us like Argo Mad Libs (where they said an Argo AV should have “7000 wheels!”), eat ice cream, and learn more about what exactly it takes to create safe autonomous vehicle technology.
But most importantly of all, the main goal of the day was to have fun and inspire future generations to explore their interests in science, tech, engineering, art and math (STEAM). A big thanks to all the Argo volunteers who came together to pull off the event — you all deserve gold stars.
The U.S. has experienced a tragic and alarming rise in traffic deaths the last two years — even as governments at all levels have sought to reduce them, along with traffic-related injuries and non-fatal collisions.
For Ground Truth columnist and former racer Alex Roy, the issue of road safety is a deeply personal one: he recently received a call about his elderly mother’s driving issues and was faced with an extremely difficult decision and conversation, set against the backdrop of two tragic incidents in his home city of Miami. Read his beautifully moving personal essay on road safety and his mom here.
Ready to work in the autonomous vehicle industry? Apply here now for opportunities in the U.S., Germany, and remote — including jobs that don’t require advanced or technical degrees. And check out our featured job listings for the month below:
Chief Diversity Officer
Software Engineering Manager, Site Reliability Engineering
Engineering Manager, Camera Hardware
Senior Hardware Engineer, Camera
Technical Program Manager, Firmware
What use could an artificial nose offer to autonomous vehicles? Read the story of French olfactory data startup Aryballe and find out!
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