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Arizona startup beats Google with 3D printed self-driven vehicle

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CIOL Arizona startup beats Google with 3D printed self-driven vehicle

Arizona-based startup Local Motors on Thursday unveiled a new 3-D printed, self-driving minibus - Olli - in partnership with IBM's supercomputer platform Watson, and it's all ready to roll out now.

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"We hope to be able to print this vehicle in about 10 hours and assemble it in another hour," Local Motors co-founder and chief executive John Rogers said.

The vehicle, capable of carrying 12 people, was designed as an on-demand transportation solution, much like Uber.

IBM will not control the driving of the vehicle, but by a system developed by Local Motors with many software and tech partners. IBM is providing the user interface so passengers can have "conversations" with Olli. The system uses natural language recognition for this purpose.

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CIOL Arizona startup beats Google to unveil a self-driven vehicle, which is 3-D printed

"Watson is bringing an understanding to the vehicle. If you have someplace you need to be you can say that in your own words," IBM's Bret Greenstein said. This is IBM's first venture in fully autonomous driving, although it has worked with other automotive partners on technology solutions.

Olli will be demonstrated in National Harbor, Maryland, over the next few months with additional trials expected in Las Vegas and Miami. Local Motors also wants to test the vehicle in other cities, such as Berlin, Copenhagen, and Canberra.

The Local Motors beat tech giant Google and several automakers, who have been building a prototype for self-driven cars, and who believe that deploying autonomous cars will take several years. Local Motors co-founder and chief executive John Rogers, however, said that this vehicle is ready to go into service as soon as regulations allow it.

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