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Waymo's Autonomous Vehicles Are Driving 25,000 Miles Every Day (techcrunch.com)
With Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval at the National Governors Association, Waymo CEO John Krafcik announced a huge milestone: Waymo's fleet of self-driving vehicles are now logging 25,000 miles every day on public roads. The company reportedly has 600 self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans on the road in 25 cities. Waymo has also driven 8 million miles on public roads using its autonomous vehicles, "meaning the comopany has been able to double the number of autonomous miles driven on public roads in just eight months," reports TechCrunch. From the report: The company also relies on simulation as it works to build an AI-based self-driving system that performs better than a human. In the past nine years, Waymo has "driven" more than 5 billion miles in its simulation, according to the company. That's the equivalent to 25,000 virtual cars driving all day, everyday, the company says. This newly shared goal signals Waymo is getting closer to launching a commercial driverless transportation service later this year. More than 400 residents in Phoenix have been trialing Waymo's technology by using an app to hail self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans. The company says it plans to launch its service later this year.
I didn't think those minivans could go over 1000 mph.
Knowledge Brings Fear
The most frequent users will be hookers. No question.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
I was wrong. AI and automation are right around the corner! I really can't wait to get my autonomous car, or even better, to hail one!
Neither does toodling around at 25mph or less.
Hopefully, Waymo will catch up to Tesla and start giving them some competition.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Are these miles fully autonomous (meaning no human in the car) or are the miles with assistance (human in the car, ready to take over or "assist")? If with assistance, what is the rate of help the cars get on some sort of statistic that can be compared over time? (Maybe "assists" per 1000 miles or something like that.) The statistic in the headline sounds impressive, but is it?
A world where I can already verbally tell my 2018 Toyota to call Mother. A world where I still have Mother, at age 96.
With all that data in hand, what should we expect as a death rate compared to the current death rate in developed countries? How about pedestrian and cyclist fatality rate estimates? How about operator intervention rates on typical US roads (i.e. crappy poorly maintained and often mismarked)?
All those simulations and miles are just a big round number, I want to know what the scorecard looks like. If these things were near perfect there would be no need for such continued voluminous testing and refining.
Problem is that autonomous cars will likely be "connected", which will be the death of privacy of movement. That alone is a reason to delay their development. Safety isn't everything, QUALITY of life and freedom from snooping are also worth something.
Would welcome a system to help cut down on wreckless drivers. The police are developing AI to process their video footage so a similar supply of info likely available to these companies if they could setup a system to take feeds. Also to deter poor drivers if they knew greater chance wreckless driving might be monitored.
That's way mo' than I imagined!
Relax. Your bridge won't become obsolete just because tech has marched on. If you're licensed by the Arizona Board of Troll, those self-driving cars are already using it.
Carrying a cell phone and leaving it on isn't mandatory, last I checked.
The goal of a car that performs better than a human gets closer. As human drivers are one of the major risks to limb and life, this is a good thing.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Choosing to travel by private car or tracked rideshare isn't mandatory. You can take public transit, ride your bike, walk, or catch a ride with a friend.
At any rate, license plate tracking cameras are just as much the death of driving privacy regardless of whether cars self-drive.
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No such thing as a secure, networked computer.
Hacker breaks into duh big computers Hacker sez: "Attention all self-driving Toyotas in the world. Turn hard left and accelerate to maximum NOW."
Carnage ensues. We told you so.
Those cameras aren't all that common or effective outside of major cities, especially in a rainy and/or muddy environment. Widespread adoption of robo-cars would make it much, much easier for the scum to track everyone.
Why accept the theft of privacy by a thousand cuts? Push back. Don't make it obvious what you're doing -- claim it's for "safety" and "the children", even if it decreases safety. There are more important things than human life like privacy and human dignity.
Call me when they are driving miles per hour, because that is what real-world cars do.
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