All posts tagged: Autonomous

What are Corsair sea drones? Inside the US Navy’s new autonomous weapon used against Iran

What are Corsair sea drones? Inside the US Navy’s new autonomous weapon used against Iran

Published by Parlour News

In a first, the US deployed Corsair unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in an attack on an Iranian structures. The armed maritime drones were used to strike a submarine and ship maintenance facility at Iran’s Bandar Abbas naval base on Sunday, the Pentagon said. Saronic Corsair vessels are built by Texas-based defence startup Saronic Technologies. (Saronic Technologies) Three Corsair sea drones carried out the attack, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM). The command also released footage showing one of the autonomous vessels speeding across the water towards a dock before detonating on impact. Track latest news on US and Iran here The US war on Iran has already seen the US deploy one-way aerial attack drones modelled on Iran’s Shahed drones. The Donald Trump administration has said it plans to invest billions of dollars in autonomous military platforms. ALSO READ | US military shares video of using sea drones in combat for first time; hits Iran submarine, Bandar Abbas What are sea drones? Sea drones, also known as unmanned surface vessels (USVs), are remotely operated …

Will four-year degree course be aided? Will scholarships apply? State autonomous colleges seek clarity | Pune News

Will four-year degree course be aided? Will scholarships apply? State autonomous colleges seek clarity | Pune News

Published by Parlour News

3 min readPuneApr 9, 2026 09:28 PM IST As the guidelines were released late, autonomous colleges have not been able to counsel students on the pros and cons of opting for the four-year UG programme. The guidelines were expected to provide clarity to both colleges and students; however, important questions—regarding grant-in-aid, scholarships, and class sizes—still remain unanswered. The Indian Express spoke to heads of autonomous colleges affiliated to the Savitirbai Phule Pune University (SPPU) to understand their concerns. Professor Sanjay Kharat, principal, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, told The Indian Express, “There are two issues that are not clear. The first is whether the four-year programme will be a grant-in-aid programme. The second issue is whether the students who take admissions in fourth year are eligible for getting scholarship from the social welfare department or any other scholarship that is given through the MahaDBT portal.” He added, “Students who have completed three years of UG programme are eligible for getting an admission into a two-year masters programme. If, unfortunately, the fourth year is …

CAG flags massive backlog in PSU and autonomous body accounts in Jammu-Kashmir

CAG flags massive backlog in PSU and autonomous body accounts in Jammu-Kashmir

Published by Webster

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged a massive backlog in the finalisation of accounts of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and autonomous bodies in Jammu and Kashmir, with large number of accounts remaining in arrears as on March 31, 2024. The CAG urged the UT government to ensure strict adherence to timelines for preparation and submission of accounts to strengthen financial discipline, transparency and governance. The audit panel warned that the persistent backlog undermines transparency and legislative oversight, and recommended that the government ensure companies, corporations and autonomous bodies submit their annual accounts within a stipulated time-frame. The CAG report on Union Territory (UT) finances for the year ended March 31, 2024, said, “Accounts in respect of only four companies were audited up to 2022-23. In respect of 35 companies and corporations, audit of 139 accounts was in arrears for periods ranging from one to twelve years.” According to the report, eight autonomous bodies have together failed to submit 40 annual accounts, with delays ranging from three to 14 years. The CAG stressed that …

Andhra allots land to Sagar Defence near Nellore for autonomous maritime shipyard

Andhra allots land to Sagar Defence near Nellore for autonomous maritime shipyard

Published by Parlour News

A view of Juvvaladinne fishing harbour. File photo. | Photo Credit: K. RAVIKUMAR The State government of Andhra Pradesh allotted nearly 30 acre of land to Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (SDEPL) for the establishment of an Autonomous Maritime Shipyard and Systems Centre at Juvvaladinne fishing harbour in Nellore district with a total investment of ₹45 crore and potential to generate employment for 750 people. As per G.O Rt.No .97 issued by Special Chief Secretary (Infrastructure & Investments) M.T. Krishna Babu last week, October 2026 has been set as the date of trial production, and November 26, the date of commencement of commercial production. An official release from the government said the SDEPL project was a major milestone in India’s maritime and defence manufacturing ecosystem, wherein the company builds unmanned and autonomous surface and underwater vessels along with intelligent maritime systems, sensors and command and control technologies. It was stated that such shipyards play a critical role in modern maritime operations, enabling enhanced coastal surveillance, maritime domain awareness, offshore security and defence preparedness with minimal …

Waymo readies autonomous cars for first international tests in Japan

Waymo readies autonomous cars for first international tests in Japan

Published by Webster

Next week, Waymo’s driverless vehicles will begin testing on public roads in Japan for the Alphabet company’s first international trip. Waymo has yet to confirm whether it will eventually launch a commercial robotaxi service in the country, but the company is still celebrating the excursion as a “significant milestone.” Waymo describes it as a simple “road trip” for collecting data about the nuances of Japanese driving, including left-hand traffic and navigating a dense urban environment. The vehicles will be driven manually for the purposes of gathering mapping data and will be managed by a local taxi fleet operator, Nihon Kotsu. About 25 vehicles are being sent, with the first already having been spotted in a parking lot in Tokyo. As noted by the LinkedIn user who posted the pictures, Waymo’s engineers will have their work cut out for them. Tokyo has its share of idiosyncratic environments, including “tight, winding roads” and thousands of pedestrians and cyclists seamlessly merging with vehicle traffic. The vehicles will be driven manually for the purposes of gathering mapping data Waymo …

Article 371 debate takes centre stage in Meghalaya autonomous council polls | Latest News India

Article 371 debate takes centre stage in Meghalaya autonomous council polls | Latest News India

Published by Parlour News

Campaigning for the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) elections in Meghalaya ended on Wednesday with polling scheduled for February 21. PREMIUM Meghalaya elections is scheduled for February 21 (Representative photo) The implementation of Article 371 of the Constitution, which grants some temporary, transitional and special powers to certain states, in Meghalaya was one of the most talked-about subjects in the run-up to the elections. Unlike other states in the northeast, Meghalaya is fully governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution since its formation as a state in 1972. The opposition, Voice of the People Party (VPP), was at the forefront of this debate during the campaign, arguing that Article 371 will provide stronger protection for Khasi and Jaintia tribal rights compared to the existing Sixth Schedule. The president of VPP, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, strongly advocated for this change, saying that greater constitutional autonomy is necessary to safeguard indigenous land rights, customs, and governance systems. This proposal has met significant opposition as well. The Congress and the …

Nvidia Cosmos AI Platform to Train and Develop Autonomous Vehicles and Robots Launched at CES 2025

Nvidia Cosmos AI Platform to Train and Develop Autonomous Vehicles and Robots Launched at CES 2025

Published by Webster

Nvidia launched Cosmos, a new artificial intelligence platform that contains multiple generative world foundation models (WFMs), on Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025. The platform does not only contain these AI models but also include advanced tokenisers, accelerated video processing pipeline, and guardrails that enable the platform to develop physical AI systems such as autonomous vehicles and robots. Additionally, the company open-sourced the WFMs and made it available for academic and research purposes. Nvidia also introduced the Llama Nemotron family of AI models at CES 2025. Nvidia Cosmos World Foundation Models In a newsroom post, the tech giant detailed its new Cosmos platform. The platform will only host WFMs along with several components that allow for the training and development of physical AI systems. Notably, physical AI systems are machines that come with mechanical parts and ability to interact and take actions in the real world. Nvidia highlighted that training and developing physical AI systems, including robots and autonomous vehicles, is a costly venture due to the requirement of vast amounts of real-world data …

Waymo is sending autonomous vehicles to Japan for first international tests

Waymo is sending autonomous vehicles to Japan for first international tests

Published by Webster

Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are going to Tokyo, marking the first time that the Alphabet company is deploying vehicles on public roads in a foreign market. Waymo is billing the excursion as a simple “road trip” for collecting data about the nuances of Japanese driving, including left-hand traffic and navigating a dense urban environment. The vehicles will be driven manually for the purposes of gathering mapping data and will be managed by a local taxi fleet operator, Nihon Kotsu. About 25 vehicles will be sent, with the first set to arrive in early 2025. And while the tests will undoubtedly be seen as laying the groundwork for a future Tokyo-based robotaxi service, Waymo said it isn’t ready to announce anything quite yet. “While we look forward to bringing the life-saving benefits of the Waymo Driver global, we have no plans to serve riders in Tokyo at this time,” Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp said. “Rather, we’re bringing our technology to learn and understand how Waymo fits into the existing transportation landscape and learning how to best partner …

Google Launches Gemini 2.0 with Autonomous Tool Linking

Google Launches Gemini 2.0 with Autonomous Tool Linking

Published by Webster

Google is embracing “agentic experiences” in the rollout of Gemini 2.0, its new flagship family of generative AI expected to compete with ChatGPT with OpenAI o1, GitHub Copilot, and Amazon Nova. The tech giant released the first model, Gemini 2.0 Flash, on Dec. 11 for global developers through the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI. Consumers can expect Gemini 2.0 to impact Google Search and AI Overviews, with limited testing beginning next week. A public rollout is set for early 2025. Through Gemini 2.0, developers can access multimodal input and text output, while early access partners can test text-to-speech and native image generation. The Gemini app will be updated with Gemini 2.0 Flash “soon,” Google said in a press release. General availability, and additional model sizes such as the base model Gemini 2.0, are expected to follow in January. What is Gemini 2.0? Gemini 2.0 is a multimodal generative AI model running on Google’s Trillium hardware. It is designed to make online tasks easier and more intuitive by assisting with summarizing information, …

The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles

The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles

Published by Webster

Eight years and $10 billion later, GM has decided to pull the plug on its grand robotaxi experiment. The automaker’s CEO, Mary Barra, made the surprise announcement late on Tuesday, arguing that a shared autonomous mobility service was never really in its “core business.” It was too expensive and had too many regulatory hurdles to overcome to make it a viable revenue stream. Instead, GM would pivot to “privately owned” driverless cars — because, after all, that’s what the people really wanted. “Customers like to drive,” Barra said in a call with investors. “And there’s times they don’t like to drive.” If some of this sounds familiar, Ford essentially made the same decision two years ago when it pulled its funding for Argo AI, the autonomous driving startup it had financed since 2017. It cited as one of its reasons a belief that partial autonomy — often described as Level 3 or Level 3-plus — will have more near-term payoffs. Automakers are tapping out of the robotaxi business Automakers are tapping out of the robotaxi business. …