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.

Comments

But it worked fine in Kerbal Space Program

[Jeremi]

It's worth noting that the Unreal Engine-powered simulation software was relatively new

Hmm, turns out the real world is different than the Unreal world. :/

Backseat Engineering

[Anonymous Coward]

Who is to say that they "neglected" simulation? I'm no Uber fanboy. Engineers working on the main show make more than simulation and test engineers at a great many companies. In addition, in my experience, simulation, especially of something complex and cutting edge like this (rather than say, FEA), is often of little value, because it is so hard to really model the world. Right or wrong, paying less to simulation engineers was not negligence. These wild conclusions seem to stem not from the facts, but from "The Information's" desire to create a sensational headline. Maybe Uber WAS negligent. This article does not convincingly make this case.

Re:Backseat Engineering

[Luthair]

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.

So, the Microsoft ...

[CaptainDork]

... model.