Mobility Studio | Robots & Coffee | Aurora Innovation

Ford selects startups for Mobility Studio

DEARBORN, MI—A partnership between Ford Motor Company and Newlab, a multi-disciplinary technology center located in Brooklyn, New York, spawned a new program, Mobility Studio. It is an integrated system of communication and controls for autonomous and connected vehicles and their environment. The five startups that will participate in Mobility Studio’s first cohort are– Autofleet, EVPassport, Fermata Energy, Rhombus Energy Solutions, and SparkCharge – each of which will operate out of Michigan Central Station.

Autonomous robot food deliveries

GREENSBORO, NC—North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Paris-based food services provider, Sodexo, have partnered with robot maker Starship Technologies to roll out food delivery services via autonomous robots. A&T is the first historically Black college, or university, to partner with Starship, as well as its first partnership in North Carolina.

How do you like your coffee?

MILWAUKEE, WI—Octane Coffee, a robot-powered coffee drive-thru housed in a shipping container, is about to open. The drive-thru will be unstaffed and open 24/7. Customers place their orders through a mobile app and the machinery will then make and serve the beverages. Octane Coffee plans to raise a Series A investment round and then open two additional locations in the Milwaukee area. You can look at slide show of Octane Coffee by clicking here.

Aurora Innovation unveils beta

PITTSBURGH, PA—Pittsburgh-based startup Aurora Innovation unveiled the beta version of Aurora Driver, its flagship product that combines data captured from cameras, lidar, and other sensors into a perception system that can autonomously control and drive vehicles. The Aurora Driver Beta is offered through the FedEx and Paccar partnership as part of the company’s Aurora Horizon subscription product.