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Google Spin-Off's Newest Self-Driving Minivans Start Road Tests This Month (theverge.com)
"We're at an inflection point where we can begin to realize the potential of this technology," the CEO of Waymo said today. An anonymous reader quotes The Verge:
Waymo, the self-driving car startup spun-off from Google late last year, will be deploying its fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans onto public roads for the first time later this month, the company announced at the North American International Auto Show. The minivans will be hitting the roads in Mountain View, California and Phoenix, Arizona, where the company's self-driving Lexus SUVs have already driven thousands of miles over the past few years...
But here's the thing about these minivans. Waymo says that for the first time, it's producing all the technology that enables its cars to completely drive themselves in-house... This allows the company to exert more control over its self-driving hardware, as well as bring the cost down to ridiculously cheap levels. In a speech in Detroit, Waymo CEO Jeff Krafcik said that by building its own LIDAR sensors, for example, the company was shaving 90 percent off its costs. That means sensors that Google purchased for $75,000 back in 2009 now only cost $7,500 for Waymo to build itself.
Waymo's CEO says that using high-resolution LIDAR sensors "helps us more accurately predict where someone will walk next."
But here's the thing about these minivans. Waymo says that for the first time, it's producing all the technology that enables its cars to completely drive themselves in-house... This allows the company to exert more control over its self-driving hardware, as well as bring the cost down to ridiculously cheap levels. In a speech in Detroit, Waymo CEO Jeff Krafcik said that by building its own LIDAR sensors, for example, the company was shaving 90 percent off its costs. That means sensors that Google purchased for $75,000 back in 2009 now only cost $7,500 for Waymo to build itself.
Waymo's CEO says that using high-resolution LIDAR sensors "helps us more accurately predict where someone will walk next."
In fact, if you look at the article, and then watch the video, and then wait about a minute, you'll see the minivans they show are all plug-in electrics. (This isn't a "why the hell won't people read the article?" complaint -- it takes way too much time to figure this out. The only reason I bothered is because my spouse is deeply interested in having the Pacifica electric minivan as their next car, so I'm an interested party)
I've heard lidar is blinded by fog.
Correct. So when the car encounters fog, it should slow down. Just like a human would. But Google cars also have radar, which can penetrate fog, so they can still do better than humans.
Also it needs to stop for every shopping bag blowing in the wind
The "plastic bag problem" was solved a couple years ago, using ANNs. The vision system can differentiate between a rock and a plastic bag as well as a human that is alert and paying attention, and do way better than humans yakking on their cellphones or yelling at the kids in the backseat.