Autonomous Car Progress

[diplomat33]

If Aurora has better self-driving tech than Uber ATG, what exactly is Aurora getting? The employees?

If Auroras tech was already better- what did they need to buy Ubers for?

If it's good enough to actually be used why wouldn't they license it to existing rideshare companies without giving up 40% of their ownership to get tech they apparently don't need?

EDIT-Damn it, MP3Mike beat me to it by a few seconds...

Well, it is my opinion that Aurora has better FSD tech based on what I've seen.

I would guess that Aurora gets access to the Uber ride-hailing network. Aurora has FSD software but no cars to put it in. Other than their test vehicles, Aurora does not have a fleet of their own.

 

[MP3Mike]

Well, it is my opinion that Aurora has better FSD tech based on what I've seen.

I would guess that Aurora gets access to the Uber ride-hailing network. Aurora has FSD software but no cars to put it in. Other than their test vehicles, Aurora does not have a fleet of their own.

That seems really expensive to get vehicles, where you would likely have to replace the sensors it comes with with your own. (Aurora developed their own LIDAR sensors.)

So it seems like an acquihire with a side of getting access to the Uber ride-hailing platform.

 

[ZeApelido]

Sounds like one big circle jerk

 

[banned-66611]

If Aurora has better self-driving tech than Uber ATG, what exactly is Aurora getting? The employees?

Test data? It's probably going cheap.

 

[eli_]

Aurora is supposed to license their self-driving tech to automakers, just like MobileEye is. But the problem for them is OEMs keep buying stakes in self-driving companies instead, so there aren't many potential partners left.

 

[mark95476]

Sounds like Softbank, Denso, and Toyota did the same amount of due diligence GM did with Nikola. It probably means Denso and Toyota are just as desperate as GM for something they want and don't have.

The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, values ATG at approximately $4 billion. The unit was valued at $7.25 billion in Apr. 2019 when Softbank, Denso and Toyota took a stake.

This sounds ass-backwards -- Uber is giving ("investing") $400M cash to Aurora to take ATG off their hands, prob some of it to fund ATG personnel layoffs.

Where does it say anything about Aurora giving money to Uber instead of the 26% stake? I doubt Uber will try to flip that immediately.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join the company’s board, and the ride-sharing giant will invest $400 million into the company.

Overall, Uber and ATG investors and employees are expected to own a 40% stake in Aurora, according to a regulatory filing accompanying the deal; Uber alone will hold a 26% stake. The start-up is being valued at $10 billion in the transaction, according to a person familiar with the terms of the deal."

Uber sells its self-driving unit to Aurora

This makes a lot of sense. Uber was not going to get anywhere with their self-driving project on their own. IMO, Aurora has better self-driving tech that Uber. This way, Uber gets an infusion of cash that they need. Aurora can develop their FSD and gets a ride-hailing platform.

I think we are starting to see the consolidation of self-driving companies that we discussed before. The small FSD companies are getting swallowed up by the bigger FSD companies.

 

[diplomat33]

Here is what it took for Cruise to achieve driverless FSD in SF:

https://twitter.com/Cruise/status/1336457759663898629

 

[Microterf]

Good to see another company rolling out driverless rides. 2021 should be an amazing year for autonomy

 

[diplomat33]

2021 should be an amazing year for autonomy

Definitely! Autonomous driving has finally arrived!

 

[Knightshade]

Might be of interest to the thread

https://twitter.com/greentheonly/status/1336467014727110656?

 

[Snuffysasa]

Good to see another company rolling out driverless rides. 2021 should be an amazing year for autonomy

Yea, I don't think they are doing driverless rides... but just driveless tests.
But I agree, still great progress.

I also expect Zoox, Aptiv, and Mobileye to demonstrate driverless tests in the next few months/weeks as well.

Similar, to Waymo, it will probably take these companies a few more years before having a viable robotaxi product.

 

[diplomat33]

Might be of interest to the thread

https://twitter.com/greentheonly/status/1336467014727110656?

WOW. That is a pretty deep dive inside what makes FSD tick. If I am reading that right, it looks like Tesla has a ton of driving policy, some of it is not turned on yet. Also, we can see that what the FSD computer actually processes (on the right) is much more detailed than what the driver visualizations show (on the left):

We can also see confirmation that Tesla uses maps. It says "source: map and vision" and "map type: traffic light".

But I am curious what the "chiropractor adjust skeleton" setting is and how it relates to FSD.

 

[powertoold]

We can also see confirmation that Tesla uses maps. It says "source: map and vision" and "map type: traffic light".

We've known that Tesla uses maps for a long time now, ever since highway NoA. They also use maps for traffic lights and stop signs, as Karpathy mentioned during a talk.

 

[82bert]

We've known that Tesla uses maps for a long time now, ever since highway NoA. They also use maps for traffic lights and stop signs, as Karpathy mentioned during a talk.

Yeah, I don’t get this obsession with maps or not. Of course they use maps. Why wouldn’t they use maps?! There was some ridiculous back and forth on the semantics of HD maps, but of course they use some form of mapping. Good gracious.

 

[Knightshade]

Yeah, I don’t get this obsession with maps or not. Of course they use maps. Why wouldn’t they use maps?! There was some ridiculous back and forth on the semantics of HD maps, but of course they use some form of mapping. Good gracious.

it's about scalability.

If you 'need' HD maps down to a really really precise level to self-drive like you need to know where every curb is down to the fraction of an inch, that means you need such maps for everywhere, and kept constantly up to date and you probably need to create and update them yourself, constantly.... which is crap for scaling to everywhere.

Versus if you just need "general" maps for basic stuff like what lane to be in, where an exit is, where an address is, etc that you can source from other places pretty easily and your system still works if they're not constantly perfect and super precise. Which is pretty easy to scale.

 

[82bert]

it's about scalability.

If you 'need' HD maps down to a really really precise level to self-drive like you need to know where every curb is down to the fraction of an inch, that means you need such maps for everywhere, and kept constantly up to date and you probably need to create and update them yourself, constantly.... which is crap for scaling to everywhere.

Versus if you just need "general" maps for basic stuff like what lane to be in, where an exit is, where an address is, etc that you can source from other places pretty easily and your system still works if they're not constantly perfect and super precise. Which is pretty easy to scale.

No, I get that. I’m saying there was never a debate about Tesla using “maps”. Green’s latest doesn’t confirm it’s HD maps. They use maps. But of course they use maps. This is silliness.

 

[J1mbo]

Yeah, I don’t get this obsession with maps or not. Of course they use maps. Why wouldn’t they use maps?! There was some ridiculous back and forth on the semantics of HD maps, but of course they use some form of mapping. Good gracious.

Couldn't agree more. Especially if the system can continue to operate (albeit with reduced confidence) in the absence of a map.

 

[diplomat33]

 

[HighZ]

I am curious what the "chiropractor adjust skeleton" setting is and how it relates to FSD.

Green replied to this question on Twitter and said (paraphrasing) that the devs would use codewords like 'skeleton' for the dots that make up the predicted path, and the 'chiropractor' was the act of straightening or smoothing those dots. Tesla seems to be known for not spending too much time thinking about what to call stuff, ie. Joe Mode, California Stop, etc.

 

[diplomat33]

Green replied to this question on Twitter and said (paraphrasing) that the devs would use codewords like 'skeleton' for the dots that make up the predicted path, and the 'chiropractor' was the act of straightening or smoothing those dots. Tesla seems to be known for not spending too much time thinking about what to call stuff, ie. Joe Mode, California Stop, etc.

Thanks