Automotive and mobility news

The Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) is continuing to strengthen and grow Ontario’s automotive and mobility sector, while responding to the needs of its labour force.

Invision AI, a Toronto-based technology scale-up; Thales, a global leader in digital technologies; and Metrolinx, the regional transportation agency for the Province of Ontario, today announced the successful completion of the WinterTech Program, an 18-month collaboration to validate the functionality and reliability of a cutting edge rail-centric system providing enhanced situational awareness, safety enhancements and operational benefits, through all weather conditions.

Microcredentials are a form of focused learning with the potential to respond to both the modern hiring needs of employers and the training needs of adults looking to advance or pivot in the labour market. At HEQCO, we define them as being tied to short learning opportunities that are focused on a discrete set of skills, knowledge or attributes. They provide more targeted training than traditional degrees, certificates and diplomas.

The future not only looks electric for the Canadian automotive industry, but also promises to be more connected, autonomous and shared.

This Northern Ontario Transportation Plan (the plan) serves as a guide to help build a modern and sustainable transportation system for people in the North. It contains actions that will connect communities, provide safer and more reliable travel options and unlock economic potential in the North.

Applications open for the Ontario Automotive Modernization Program while province showcases leadership in autonomous vehicle development

As growth in use of autonomous vehicles stokes demand for workers with computer science and engineering skills, education and political leadership is crucial to ensuring Canada can meet those needs.

A safe, efficient and connected transportation network is a foundation for a healthy and prosperous Ontario. Our draft plan for southwestern Ontario includes more than 40 improvements and strategies for public transit, rail, highways and more.

The APMA announced the launch of its first, original, full-build, Concept Vehicle, named Project Arrow. An all-Canadian effort, it will be designed, engineered and built by our world-class automotive supply sector and post-secondary institutions.

From February 15-24 2019, the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), administered by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), is partnering with the 2019 Canadian International AutoShow to bring content to AutoShow Live, presented at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in the Toronto Star booth.

The AVIN Technology Demonstration Zone, located in Stratford, Ontario, is a site where Ontario-based companies with connected and automated vehicle (C/AV) technologies can test, validate and showcase innovative products. A call for technology is now open.

Six sites harness talents and resources for connected and autonomous vehicle technologies

Ontario is reinforcing its status as a go-to destination for developing automated vehicles by launching AVIN, the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network, in Stratford.

The adoption of the Cellular-V2X standard will increase the number of connected vehicles on city roadways. To help prepare, Fortran and its contest partners BlackBerry and Cradlepoint are pleased to support the 2021 Connected Intersection Challenge.

Canada’s capital is among the country’s top technology hubs, and combined with its long history in auto manufacturing, Ottawa is well-positioned to lead in the burgeoning connected and autonomous vehicle industry.

Be part of the first trial at Toronto's new Transportation Innovation Zone! Are you developing new technologies to clear snow or apply salt to sidewalks? The City of Toronto is inviting you to join a first-of-its-kind Transportation Innovation Challenge at the City's new Transportation Innovation Zone at Exhibition Place in early 2021. All of the information you need to know can be found in the Call for Applications or at the City of Toronto website www.Toronto.ca/TIZ

Canada is the world-leading hub of AI. There is a talent capability in AI, decision telematics and lidar at a density found nowhere else in the world

Otto Motors, a division of Clearpath Robotics Inc., builds squat but agile battery-powered, pallet-sized vehicles that autonomously transport loads of as much as 1,500 kilograms at two metres per second to assembly lines.

A Kitchener company that builds cleaning robots is seeing demand for its product increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Avidbots build an autonomous floor cleaning robot called Neo that is used in commercial spaces including malls and airports.

In the short term, physical distancing and other restrictions have forced the closure of some vehicle and robotic manufacturing, adversely impacting connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) development. In the long term, however, the COVID-19 pandemic may propel the industry forward, by recasting our focus on the use of robotics and automated forms of service delivery, along with infrastructural and city planning aspects. Though a number of CAV companies have had to halt development and testing due to COVID-19, CAVs are carving out a role for themselves in a global community that is shifting priorities, altering habits, and becoming preoccupied with reducing human involvement in everyday tasks.

Two University of Windsor professors have received a provincial grant for a study of human interaction with Advance Driver Assistance Systems aimed at helping the Ministry of Transportation formulate future autonomous vehicle policy.

Nowadays, there are multiple ongoing standardization efforts in the Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS) domain, whose goal is to try to standardize different aspects of ADS technologies, especially safety validation and verification procedures or approaches.

The auto industry announced Thursday that it plans to install 5 million pieces of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) equipment over the next five years, but only if the Federal Communications Commission reverses course on a plan to take away airwaves currently reserved for development of the technology.

Across the car world, designers remain among the relative few in the industry who can continue their daily work uninterrupted, more or less. While factory stalls everywhere from Volkswagen Group to General Motors sent thousands of line workers home, the men and women who work to outline your car’s roof or orchestrate the feel of the lambswool carpets beneath your feet can gather virtually to push projects forward.

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, discusses his members changing their production lines to meet medical supply demand prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its inaugural Autonomous Vehicles Legal Summit, BLG hosted a diverse array of experts, clients and stakeholders to explore the challenges and opportunities that are shaping the growth and adoption of autonomous vehicles.

Ontario-made medical masks are rolling off the line at a GTA auto parts manufacturer thanks in part to engineers at McMaster University.

Linda Hasenfratz, chief executive of auto-parts giant Linamar Corp., a company from Guelph, Ont., known the world over for building engine parts and transmissions, is now suddenly and deeply immersed in the challenge of producing hospital ventilators.

OCE and four of its industry partners, have created a collaboration platform aimed to identify technologies, businesses, and experts from across the province that could help fill the current product and service gaps related to COVID-19.

The National Academic Cluster for Smart Vehicles is set to receive investment from research institutions, private sector and federal government

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will be among the first group of external investors in Waymo, the autonomous driving technology company established by Google and fully owned by its parent, Alphabet Inc.

Starting today, General Motors is gathering hundreds of employees, dealers, investors, analysts, media and policymakers to share details of its strategy to grow the company’s electric vehicle (EV) sales quickly, efficiently and profitably.

The Ontario government has announced a new investment of $900,000 with Sudbury-based SHYFT inc. to support the creation of new jobs and continued economic growth in northern Ontario.

As the CEO of a Toyota dealership, the first woman to lead the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association — and subsequently the first female president of the Canadian International AutoShow — Susan Gubasta takes seriously her position as a role model and mentor for women both working in the automotive sector, and those considering it as a career.

A collaboration to benefit Canadian fleet-owning businesses in cost reduction, higher safety and efficiency with General Motors OnStar.

Official grand opening of the Autonomous Vehicle Research & Intelligence Laboratory (AVRIL), a facility located on the University of Waterloo’s campus.

The City of Hamilton has been named one of the Top 7 Intelligent Communities in the World by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF).

Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturer Association (APMA) is participating at the Auto Expo - Components 2020 and is one of the key exhibitors at the Canadian Pavilion (Hall No: 4AFF, Stall No: 282). Colin Singh Dhillon, Chief Technical Officer of APMA, says it is time to embrace the digital disruption and governments need to collaborate more on co-country projects.

James Pasternak, Toronto city councillor and chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, shares how the city’s AV tactical plan came to be and other insights for municipalities looking to develop their own.

Engineering researchers team up to create a new, open-source dataset to train and test all-important perception algorithms in nasty weather.

President of Toronto-based Cox Automotive Canada, Maria Soklis was among executives and government officials who gathered in November at the inaugural Automotive News Canada Leading Women Panel focused on challenges women face in an industry dominated by men and what can be done to make it more diverse.

Propose sensors or other solutions to detect signs related to a stroke, heart attack or diabetic event of a vehicle passenger or driver.

Telus Corp.'s venture arm is leading a $120-million investment in urban-tech company Miovision Technologies Inc. to help it deploy its traffic-signal-management platform more quickly worldwide.

Repsol Foundation opens its 9th philanthropic acceleration program to support deep tech startups working in innovative energy and mobility solutions. Applications due by March 4.

Bell Canada and the City of Hamilton will be moving forward together with a Bell investment of approximately $400 million to expand broadband Internet access in urban and rural areas of Hamilton, the largest digital infrastructure investment in the City’s history.

Today, Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, announced the investment of $2,086,838 from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund to support five businesses in Windsor-Essex County.

The Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) is continuing the annual survey to understand the "readiness" of municipalities when it comes to Self-Driving Vehicles, which will help in understanding our collective progress in comparison to previous year(s).

The Government of Ontario continues to support the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN) as part of its new strategic plan for the auto sector — Driving Prosperity: The Future of Ontario’s Automotive Sector.

Ottawa is preparing to open a 16-kilometre test track for cutting-edge autonomous vehicle technologies, the only such facility of its kind in North America, according to Invest Ottawa.

Ontario has updated its Automated Vehicle Pilot program to allow for more testing of emerging technologies and to support future sales of the next generation of autos.

Ontario is becoming a hub of self-driving car development and that’s potentially good news for anyone who’s been stuck in gridlock, or frustrated by the forlorn search for a parking spot downtown in winter.

Waterloo Region is one of six communities that will play a leading role in the development of autonomous-vehicle technology in this province, and Communitech is looking for someone to help guide that research locally.

The Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) is continuing to strengthen and grow Ontario’s automotive and mobility sector, while responding to the needs of its labour force.

Invision AI, a Toronto-based technology scale-up; Thales, a global leader in digital technologies; and Metrolinx, the regional transportation agency for the Province of Ontario, today announced the successful completion of the WinterTech Program, an 18-month collaboration to validate the functionality and reliability of a cutting edge rail-centric system providing enhanced situational awareness, safety enhancements and operational benefits, through all weather conditions.

Ontario-based AI SaaS startup, SalesChoice, is partnering with Purolator, one of North America’s leading courier and logistics companies and the Government of Ontario, through Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), on a new driver health and safety initiative that will test the effectiveness of an AI-based predictive mood tracking and prescriptive mobile application.

In partnership with Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), led by the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), Four DRobotics Corp is developing sensor technology that will increase the safety of snow plow operation. The City of Ottawa will be the primary partner on this project to develop this technology that will be tested at the Invest Ottawa Area X.O private all-weather connected and autonomous vehicle test track in Ottawa. Sensor Coretek, Studio63, Syntronics, and T minus20 will take on a secondary partnership roll on the project.

eLeapPower (founded in 2016 as Havelaar Canada), together with the University of Toronto’s Electric Vehicle Centre (UTEV), collaborated with the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN) program, Chery Automotive Commercial Vehicle and Opus One Solutions to produce a game-changing wireless charging technology for autonomous vehicles.

Ecopia is commercializing a centralized hub for the HD Map data needed in the enablement of AV and smart city applications. The embedded HD Maps will be generated through the use of Ecopia’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) powered systems, which mine geospatial data such as aerial and street-view imagery, to generate a highly detailed digital representation of the physical world.

Acerta Analytics, Inc. is pleased to announce the creation of a new partnership with Challenger Motor Freight with the support of Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN). The partnership will focus on enhancing trucking fleet maintenance and fuel optimization via Acerta’s AutoPulse machine learning platform.

Almon worked with Toronto-based automation startup X-Matik to retrofit a 2020 Peterbilt truck with actuators and sensors, and the University of Waterloo Mechatronic Vehicle Systems Lab to develop the algorithms needed to enable autonomous operation.

Transoft Solutions (ITS), developers of transportation engineering software and road safety analytic technology, is developing an innovative crash risk prediction system, which includes near-miss notification alerts to improve traffic safety across the Regional Municipality of Durham.

Invision AI, Thales and Metrolinx are building unique sensing and computing capabilities that provide enhanced situational awareness to existing rail systems and are capable of operating in severe winter conditions. The goal of this partnership is to build a platform that will ultimately enable deployments in urban, regional and mainline rail networks globally.

The connected vehicle technology developed as part of this solution is integrated with an LTE-M based On Board Diagnostic device and can be further integrated with a 5G based ODB II device.

The aim of the project is to develop a system that incorporates an autopilot feature for conventional trucks with a driver, leading to the most efficient way to drive and increase safety.

Gatik’s platform taps level 4 autonomous vehicles (capable of operating with limited human input and oversight in specific conditions and locations, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers) to fulfill on-demand and scheduled deliveries up to a distance of 200 miles.

RideShark is a global leading provider of commuter management solutions that public sector, corporate and campus-based organizations use to promote safe and sustainable mobility options such as carpooling, vanpooling, public transit and active transportation, all on one easy-to-use app. Leveraging its Unified Mobility™ platform, RideShark will develop a community transit solution that can withstand harsh Canadian winters on semi-urban and rural roads.

Flodraulic, a multi-dimensional fluid power company, recently announced the launch of its Archimedes Precision Spreader, a next generation precision snow plow and salter. Working with the University of Guelph, the Town of Halton Hills, and the City of Guelph, Flodraulic has redesigned salt management to accurately measure the salt applied on roadways in real-time.

In partnership with the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network, led by the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), Joyride has developed a next-generation electric scooter docking integration system.

Through Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), Pitstop and Fleet Complete have partnered to build an advanced AI-powered platform for predictive maintenance of vehicle components. The new solution will directly benefit commercial fleet operations, as well as the global supply chain and logistics industry.

With rapid population growth and more frequent extreme weather events, costs of snow clearing are projected to increase further each year, prompting governments to analyze means to improve winter maintenance efficiency.