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Uber Self-Driving Cars Back On Public Roads, But In Manual Mode (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the back-at-it-again dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Uber is putting its autonomous vehicles back on Pittsburgh's city streets, four months after a fatal accident involving one of its self-driving cars prompted the ride-hailing company to halt testing on public roads. But for now, Uber's modified self-driving Volvo XC90 vehicles will only be driven manually by humans and under a new set of safety standards that includes real-time monitoring of its test drivers and efforts to beef up simulation. The sensors, including light detection and ranging radar known as LiDAR, will be operational on these self-driving vehicles. They won't be operated in autonomous mode, however. Uber will use these manually operated self-driving vehicles to update its HD maps of Pittsburgh. This manual-first rollout is a step toward Uber's ultimate goal to relaunch its autonomous vehicle testing program in Pittsburgh, according to Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies Group, who published a post Tuesday on Medium. Uber said that all its self-driving vehicles, whether they're driven manually or eventually in autonomous mode, will have two Uber employees inside. "These 'mission specialists' -- a new name Uber has given to its test drivers -- will have specific jobs," reports TechCrunch. "The person behind the wheel will be responsible for maintaining the vehicle safety, while the second 'mission specialist' will ride shotgun and document events." Every vehicle will also have a driver monitoring system that will track driver behavior in real time.

30 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. wow progress by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    the amazing self driving manual car also

    the worlds shortest giant, also

    the worlds tallest dwarf

    step right up

    1. Re:wow progress by godel_56 · · Score: 1

      Even better than that, a self-driving car that requires 2, count them two drivers, ie more than a non self-driving car!

      For safety reasons one passenger periodically has to get out of the car and walk in front waving a red flag.

  2. You're going the wrong way by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> self-driving vehicles, whether they're driven manually or eventually in autonomous mode, will have two Uber employees inside

    Um...you're going the wrong way. I want my "self-driving car" to have ZERO passenger-recording Uber employees inside.

  3. Frnds Don't Let Frnds Txt N Drv by DickBreath · · Score: 1

    Friends don't let friends text and drive.

    A good friend will hold the wheel so the driver can focus on what is important -- their phone. But your honor, I wasn't texting and driving, I was playing with my tweeter.

    I suppose the same holds true for UBER Mission Specialists. Mission Specialists don't let mission specialists watch movies and drive. A good mission specialist, especially employed by UBER, would hold the wheel for the driver so they can also eat their popcorn while watching the movie on their phone.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    1. Re:Frnds Don't Let Frnds Txt N Drv by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      Let's see
      Pay min wage to $10/hr
      BA/BS degree required
      Lot's of nights and weekends required

  4. two people are needed in self mode any ways by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    two people are needed in self mode any ways for now.

    One for driving part and the other to look over the systems.

    1. Re:two people are needed in self mode any ways by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      ...and soon, a third to remind the other two to put down their phones for a while and do their jobs.

  5. fucking Uber by SumDog · · Score: 1

    Uber is a shit company. They're using marketing speak for their now "sensor/data gathering" cars. I hope no city lets them put an autonomous car back on the road. Fuck Uber and their toxic company.

  6. Precision, please, people by El+Cubano · · Score: 3, Interesting

    light detection and ranging radar known as LiDAR

    LiDAR (or LIDAR, or lidar, etc.) = light detection and ranging

    RADAR (or radar) = radio detection and ranging

    "light detection and ranging radar" is not a thing.

    1. Re:Precision, please, people by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Now just because light is in the terahertz range does not mean it's not radio. You just need a very directional receiver.

    2. Re:Precision, please, people by El+Cubano · · Score: 1

      Now just because light is in the terahertz range does not mean it's not radio.

      I am not arguing that light is not radio. I am saying that "light detection and ranging radar" is not a thing, just like "American League NL" would be meaningless in the context of baseball. There is an American League (AL) and a National League (NL), but concatenating the two would be nonsensical.

  7. "Mission Specialists" by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    They should give them a more accurate name, like "Pedestrian killers" or something.

    1. Re:"Mission Specialists" by PPH · · Score: 1

      I think that's what 'riding shotgun' means. Perhaps literally.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  8. Re:have they solved the problem? by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    or "a system that detects hazards ahead of the vehicle and continues to mow down the offending jaywalker"

  9. death race uber! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    With 360 live point tracking.

  10. 1:1 employee to manager ratio...nice by edi_guy · · Score: 1

    Because the Uber person in the Arizona accident was texting, they are now seating managers next to the driver. Driver monitors computer, manager monitors driving who is monitoring computer. I think the two back seats could be used for a Director and a person with a VP title at which point the fiasco will be complete.

    1. Re:1:1 employee to manager ratio...nice by Iwastheone · · Score: 1
      If I recall she was not texting but watching a live stream of a talent show on Hulu. (Video in link)

      Elaine Herzberg, 49, was killed in Arizona in March after she was struck by an Uber vehicle operating in autonomous mode. The crash prompted investigations by both the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. (Herzberg is believed to be the first person killed by a vehicle operating without a driver.) According to a report from the Tempe Police Department, the driver, Rafaela Vasquez, could have avoided the crash if she had been paying more attention to her surroundings. (Cars operating autonomously have a safety rider in the driver’s seat, like Vasquez, who can throw the vehicle into manual and override the autopilot.) The report also found she had been streaming The Voice on her phone right up until the moment the accident occurred, Reuters reports.

      The crash was “deemed entirely avoidable” by the police report. “Vasquez looked up just 0.5 seconds before the crash, after keeping her head down for 5.3 seconds, the Tempe Police report said. Uber’s self-driving Volvo SUV was traveling at just under 44 miles-per-hour,” Reuters also reports. Earlier reports in May attributed the crash to a software problem, citing programming designed to let self-driving vehicles “ignore ‘false positives,’” — like detritus in the road — which errantly registered Herzberg as such. Following the crash, Arizona suspended Uber from conducting any further autonomous tests.

      http://nymag.com/selectall/201...

    2. Re:1:1 employee to manager ratio...nice by Iwastheone · · Score: 1

      (Apologies) Video of Arizona incident here: https://www.extremetech.com/ex...

  11. Pittsburgher here by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

    Uber has been pretty good to the city from the looks of things on the ground. DUI rates seem to be down. Their autonomous cars weren't any problem and seemed to be piloted better than the average insane Pittsburgh driver. We've got other companies testing their vehicles as well without issue. I've never heard any employees of Uber's ATC complain about their pay. I have used their service thousands of times without incident. I don't get all the hate. I could see disappointment or annoyance, but not the level of vitriol I've seen online. I've seen a lot of non-Pittsburgers speak on our behalf, though...

    1. Re:Pittsburgher here by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      There was nothing preventing those drunks from calling a taxi company.

      ... except that the taxi costs more, takes longer to arrive, is less convenient, and may not come at all if either you or your destination are in the wrong neighborhood.

      Uber/Lyft ridership tends to increase at three times the rate that taxi ridership falls. That clearly implies that most people don't see them as interchangeable.

    2. Re:Pittsburgher here by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

      They engage in illegal behaviors to increase their 'profits' and scope of influence in order to gain a monopoly they'll abuse and do so by abusing their workers. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Enjoy your human in your sausages.

      There was nothing preventing those drunks from calling a taxi company.

      Keep your eyes on the horizon instead of on the ground.

      To reiterate: you're not from Pittsburgh. You'd know that your "taxi company" comment is extremely foolish (or at least ignorant). There was no such thing as taxi service in Pittsburgh for all intents and purposes. There's also effectively no public transportation options at night.

      In the 30+ years I've lived here, I've never once heard anyone ever having a taxi pick them up after a night of drinking. On the other hand, I have myriad stories of people waiting for hours for a taxi and never getting picked up. Once Uber came to town, people were for the first time able to drink responsibly and safely. The local taxis couldn't compete because it was cheaper, better, faster, and safer. By every metric, the customer was getting a better deal.

    3. Re:Pittsburgher here by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

      There was nothing preventing those drunks from calling a taxi company.

      ... except that the taxi costs more, takes longer to arrive, is less convenient, and may not come at all if either you or your destination are in the wrong neighborhood.

      Uber/Lyft ridership tends to increase at three times the rate that taxi ridership falls. That clearly implies that most people don't see them as interchangeable.

      Taxis never arrive in Pittsburgh. If you find yourself stuck, you're calling asleep friends or walking miles home. On the plus side, with all the steep hills around here, it is great exercise...

  12. Nice! by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    My 'self-driving' car has been in manual mode for decades, it seems to drive itself only when I'm drunk as a skunk, at least that's what I think, since I can't remember driving home.

  13. Used to be "Command Mode," ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... but people shortened that to "commode."

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  14. Re:Not to be pedantic, but... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    Human driven vehicles kill 3000 people per day worldwide. If we are truly concerned about saving lives, then instead of focusing on a single jaywalker in Phoenix, we should be looking at the big picture and pushing forward with SDCs as quickly as possible.

  15. Re:Self driving ... with two drivers? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    The Japanese have already got there, but unfortunately they put tits on top of it and the sheer creepiness of that puts me off my nut.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  16. Tempe Police are corrupt by cpm99352 · · Score: 2

    Please don't forget that the Tempe Police Dept. immediately placed all blame on the pedestrian. We now know that the Uber car know of the obstruction and had enough braking time to have reduced it to a non-fatal accident.

    Please remember the faked darkened videos, when the street was well lit.

    I have no idea what is happening in this accident in Tempe... Any locals have a clue?

  17. This is probably how it went down... by twebb72 · · Score: 1

    Developer: We've just completed QA on this new feature -- autonomous Uber in manual mode
    Manager: Brilliant! We just need another 8bn round of funding and we can deploy manual mode to Pittsburg!

    1. Re:This is probably how it went down... by twebb72 · · Score: 1

      The Uber manager also doesn't know how to spell Pittsburgh

  18. And the fourth by DrYak · · Score: 1

    ...and soon, a third...

    And the fourth's job will eventually devolve into put the light show/VJ-aying for the crazy party music playlist that the third is DJ-aying over the car's sound system.

    What? What do you mean "where does the client who hired the ride actually go" ?
    Oh, if it's one of those small european cars that can only seat 2 com fortably in the back, then I guess you'll have to put the Uber client in the trunk or on the roof's ski case...
    Or he can be busy waving the red flag in front of the Uber party car.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]