Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
Waymo finally let a reporter ride in a fully driverless car
It's been almost two years since Waymo first announced that it was testing fully autonomous vehicles on public roads. Not long afterwards, the company said it planned to offer a fully driverless service to the public by the end of 2018.
The rollout has been a lot slower than expected. Over the course of 2018, most of Waymo's cars continued to have drivers behind the wheel. When Waymo launched its commercial service in December 2018, every car had a driver behind the wheel.
But now Waymo seems to be cautiously moving forward with fully driverless technology. Last month, Waymo told people in its closed testing program that they'd start getting rides in driverless vehicles. Now in a new piece for Techcrunch, Ed Niedermeyer reports on his own experience riding in a fully driverless car.
Related Stories
Waymo's robot minivans are ready to roll in the Bay Area for the first time since COVID-19 outbreak
Waymo's self-driving cars are returning to Bay Area roads for the first time since the company halted its public testing in early March because of the coronavirus outbreak. The Alphabet-owned company plans to return its fleet of autonomous minivans to service starting June 8th, according to an email obtained by The Verge.
Waymo's self-driving cars will be put to use delivering packages for two Bay Area non-profits: illustrator Wendy McNaughton's #DrawTogether, which provides art kits to Bay Area kids; and Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
The company is the latest autonomous vehicle operator to discover that doing deliveries allows it to sidestep restrictions that would otherwise require them to keep their autonomous vehicles off the road. Waymo, along with the rest of California's AV companies, paused on-road testing in mid-March after the city issued a "shelter-in-place" order banning all nonessential travel. That order does not have a set end date.
Waymo's robot minivans are already back on the road in the Phoenix area, as well as the company's private test facility in California's Central Valley.
Previously: Waymo Orders Thousands More Chrysler Pacifica Minivans for Driverless Fleet
Waymo Finally Let a Reporter Ride in a Fully Driverless Car
Waymo Drivers vs. Coronavirus
(Score: 3, Funny) by MostCynical on Sunday November 03 2019, @06:32PM (7 children)
"one journey completed, no journalist died, will try harder next time"
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Sunday November 03 2019, @06:36PM (5 children)
Bot doesn't want to kill a lone journalist. Bot wants to wait for mass adoption so he can achieve maximum carnage in a single moment.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday November 03 2019, @06:46PM (4 children)
Probably be a lot cheaper to have a Muslim, or perhaps a drunken Mexican illegal alien, do it in a regular car rather than install all those expensive electronics in a self-driving car.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 03 2019, @06:56PM
(Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Sunday November 03 2019, @07:19PM (2 children)
Full self-driving capability will probably be worth less than $5,000 in the long run. Maybe $1,000 (in the BOM).
The hard part will be dealing with the drunk passengers. Maybe give them 2 minutes to get out of the car, then drop them off at the hospital if they don't respond. And make the seats easy to remove and clean at home base.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday November 03 2019, @10:41PM
This [youtube.com] is a really awesome theme song. I hope to listen to it one day when I'm a fat senior citizen drinking in bars all day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 04 2019, @06:50AM
So, an AI to detect my state of mind and refuse service based on some criteria chosen by the Deep State Collective Hive Mind Gaia? Pssshyeahrrright.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 04 2019, @01:59AM
The full story from the journalist is at https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/01/hailing-a-driverless-ride-in-a-waymo/amp/ [techcrunch.com] It's pretty interesting, pointing out that in addition to self-driving, the steps to removing the safety driver (human) also included negotiations with fire/cops to make sure the car did the right thing in around emergency vehicles, and a bunch of other "human" things.
Also mentions that these rides with no safety driver are in a very limited area, much smaller than the full area served by Waymo cars around Phoenix (with safety drivers). While not mentioned, I have the impression (again) that Google really appreciates the statistics--to be better than humans you have to be really good. And Google isn't in the game to get there first at all costs, they don't want to sacrifice a few cars/passengers for the cause.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 03 2019, @06:46PM (5 children)
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday November 03 2019, @07:21PM (3 children)
Google/Waymo wants to be a driverless Uber service, not sell FSD to car buyers. Tesla could still claim a first there.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by drussell on Sunday November 03 2019, @07:56PM (2 children)
Exactly...
They want to make transportation pods to obliterate the traditional point-to-point taxi-type service.
The problem is that model still jams the roads even worse compared to the larger-vehicle mass-transit type models.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Sunday November 03 2019, @10:00PM (1 child)
Larger vehicles can be self-driven the same as small vehicles. It's a very small leap from single occupant self-driven taxi service to multiple occupant self-drive taxi service (e.g., Uber/Lyft shared rides) to self-driven mass public transit.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by drussell on Sunday November 03 2019, @11:08PM
Indeed, however that is not the model they are aiming for.
Things like commuter trains and busses are already manned by pretty much the minimum number of people, to the point that there is typically a need for many more security personnel that those actually operating the 'mobiles. :)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 04 2019, @04:10PM
FSD?
But Musk already is the first car manufacturer with Fulltime Stuttering Defect.
Stupid people exist because nothing in the food chain eats them anymore.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 04 2019, @01:56AM
Probably something like this: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTJjYjJiOGUtYmEyOS00NjM0LWIxOTAtZGRmNmY0M2E3YjdjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTAxODYyODI@._V1_.jpg [media-amazon.com]
Oops, it's Ed, not Doug... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077975/characters/nm0582420?ref_=tt_cl_t3 [imdb.com]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 04 2019, @04:07PM
Trucks that are self driving will change the world profoundly just as paved roads and electric lights. It is inspiring to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MtAMc4i8OA [youtube.com]
Stupid people exist because nothing in the food chain eats them anymore.