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Google Waymo has announced that it will deploy Chrysler Pacifica minivans using its own homegrown sensors onto public roads starting at the end of January:
[Here's] the thing about these minivans. Waymo says that for the first time, its producing all the technology that enables its cars to completely drive themselves in-house. That means for the first time, the Google spin-off is building all its own cameras, sensors, and mapping technology, rather than purchasing parts off the shelf as it had done in the past. 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.
Bloomberg reports that Google/Alphabet/Waymo's cars are getting better at driving themselves, with fewer "disengagements":
Vehicles tested in California by Waymo, the autonomous car company owned Google parent Alphabet Inc., had a much lower rate of "disengagements" last year, compared with 2015. Disengagements happen when a human tester needs to take control of a self-driving car, either to avoid an accident or respond to technical problems.
Waymo Chief Executive Officer John Krafcik shared the data during a speech on Sunday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. California requires companies with permits to test autonomous vehicles to disclose the metric. The figure is one measure of the effectiveness of the nascent technology in the real world. In 2015, Alphabet reported 341 disengagements during 424,331 autonomous miles driven in California. That was 0.8 disengagements per thousand miles. In 2016, the rate improved to 0.2, according to Krafcik.
"As our software and hardware becomes more robust through our testing, we're driving this number down further," he said during a keynote address in Detroit. Krafcik also highlighted advances in Waymo's sensor technology.
Also at Reuters.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:14PM
Those are California/US disengagements.
Multiply by 20 for Southern Europe.
Multiply by 2000 for Asian or South American metropolis.
Abort CPU and engage manual for mid-size African or Indian towns
(Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:35PM
I know there's going to be cultural issues too. I've driven in Ireland while visiting and in the USA we simply make our roads 30 feet wide so its not an issue but in Ireland they make them like 3 meters wide and its simply understood that you go off roading when you meet another vehicle. Like their entire roads are narrower than our single lanes. In Ireland they grade the dirt next to the road so offroading is mostly survivable most of the time plus or minus fences and ponds and stuff. In the USA we put deep drainage ditches and sidewalks and rural mail boxes next to our 30 foot wide roads so if you go offroading you need a tow truck. I wonder if self driving cars are smart enough to understand the finer points of offroading in Ireland while avoiding getting stuck in the mud or hitting things.
It was stressful the first time I drove there, not to mention the locals driving on the wrong side of the road, but Ireland is too chill of a place to be stressed out for long.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @10:13PM
OMG! That just made me remember some road at New Zealand.
One line in each direction, nice road for a while, went narrower to a single line...
and just when i was thinking how crazy that was...
the road got on top of the railway tracks to use the railroad bridge to cross some river.
waymo scary!
... and cheap.