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Uber 'Neglected' Simulation Testing For Its Autonomous Vehicles, Says Report (engadget.com)
According to a report from The Information, Uber allegedly "neglected" simulation testing for its autonomous vehicles. "The publication's sources claim that there was a dearth of investment in the simulation software, and lots of incompatible code between the autonomous vehicle software and simulation software Uber is developing internally," reports Engadget. "However, the sources said there isn't a direct link between the lack of investment and the fatal accident involving one of Uber's autonomous taxis and a pedestrian." From the report: It's worth noting that the Unreal Engine-powered simulation software is still relatively new. The Information writes that the suite wasn't developed until after self-driving project lead Anthony Levandowski was fired mid-2017. To add insult to injury, initially, there were also differences in pay between simulation engineers and other engineers in the department. The end goal was to release a self-driving car in Arizona this year, codenamed "Roadrunner," to compete with Waymo's offering just outside of Phoenix.
You don't need to model the real world. You drive the car around with sensors on and record the input, then in simulation you feed the input from all the weird scenarios you recorded into your system.
The behaviour of Uber, Tesla and others is quite frankly reprehensible. The testing of these systems need should be at a higher bar than anything NASA or aeronautical firms given the widespread deployment, reduced control and much wider variety of possibility of harm.