Washington Post posted great animation re: AVs

[voyager]

Lidar-based. Here it is:
https://t.co/c8KViKLQpO?amp=1

METHODOLOGY
To construct this interactive graphic story and simulate the challenges the industry faces developing autonomous cars, The Washington Post reviewed voluntary reports from AutoX, GM Cruise, Nvidia, Uber, Waymo, Nuro and other self-driving vehicle companies that describe their autonomous technology and safety standards; autonomous car research from the Congressional Research Service and the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute; and video lectures on self-driving technology.

The Post also reviewed more than a thousand pages of autonomous vehicle disengagement reports, filed to the California Department of Motor Vehicles from 2015 to 2018, as well as crash reports involving self-driving cars from the National Transportation Safety Board and guidelines on automated vehicles from the Transportation Department.

The Post interviewed individuals from autonomous vehicles companies, academics and other experts in the industry. The Post also participated in self-driving car tests in Chandler, Ariz., and San Jose, Calif. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s estimate on the number of autonomous vehicles in the United States came from her speech at an Uber Elevate Summit event earlier this year.

While autonomous vehicle makes and models, and the level of technological advancement, vary by company, the 3-D model of the car depicted in this graphic is based on a generic, four-door compact minivan and doesn’t represent a specific company’s vehicle. The representation comparing sensor capabilities with human vision is based on research from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. The 3-D world doesn’t represent an exact location within the world. However, a one-way street to the airport — one that is unhindered by traffic jams, broken-down kangaroo trucks and other inconveniences — would be nice.

 

[diplomat33]

Lidar-based. Here it is:
https://t.co/c8KViKLQpO?amp=1

METHODOLOGY
To construct this interactive graphic story and simulate the challenges the industry faces developing autonomous cars, The Washington Post reviewed voluntary reports from AutoX, GM Cruise, Nvidia, Uber, Waymo, Nuro and other self-driving vehicle companies that describe their autonomous technology and safety standards; autonomous car research from the Congressional Research Service and the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute; and video lectures on self-driving technology.

The Post also reviewed more than a thousand pages of autonomous vehicle disengagement reports, filed to the California Department of Motor Vehicles from 2015 to 2018, as well as crash reports involving self-driving cars from the National Transportation Safety Board and guidelines on automated vehicles from the Transportation Department.

The Post interviewed individuals from autonomous vehicles companies, academics and other experts in the industry. The Post also participated in self-driving car tests in Chandler, Ariz., and San Jose, Calif. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s estimate on the number of autonomous vehicles in the United States came from her speech at an Uber Elevate Summit event earlier this year.

While autonomous vehicle makes and models, and the level of technological advancement, vary by company, the 3-D model of the car depicted in this graphic is based on a generic, four-door compact minivan and doesn’t represent a specific company’s vehicle. The representation comparing sensor capabilities with human vision is based on research from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. The 3-D world doesn’t represent an exact location within the world. However, a one-way street to the airport — one that is unhindered by traffic jams, broken-down kangaroo trucks and other inconveniences — would be nice.

I tried the simulation. Meh.

Frankly, it seems designed to make AVs look as bad as possible. The entire article seems like a hit job on AVs, intended to make the case against AVs. The article says things like "the industry is promising a utopia but ..." and then proceeds to bash AVs. It just highlights all the weaknesses and flaws of the current technology without talking about the successes. And, by packing all the possible ways that an AV might go wrong in one small stretch of road, it makes it look like an AV can barely go 100 ft without failing. It is not a realistic look at AVs. Waymo cars can go an average of 11,000 miles with no disengagements at all!

 

[voyager]

I tried the simulation. Meh.

Frankly, it seems designed to make AVs look as bad as possible.

Don't agree with you at all! AVs need to be prepared for worst case traffic situations. With those empty streets, I think the WP animators were still being forgiving. Anyway, I am curious whether Elon Musk's promise that all Tesla can be fully autonomous next year already will pan out...

 

[DukeofURL]

A friend forwarded me this little interactive simulator. I went through their little training thing, then the first thing it did is told me I didn't stop the autonomous car from running a red light. How could any car claiming to be autonomous run a red light? If it does, it's not autonomous.

The headline "How does an autonomous car work? Not so great." will draw people in who earnestly want to know how autonomous cars work, then have them leave scared of them. As mentioned above, Waymo has no problems with this, Uber's autonomous cars also can read traffic lights, too. It got me wondering who paid for it, because what I'd seen was largely fact-free. I've since relegated WaPo to the same category of news sources like the NY Post or Huffington Post

 

[Eno Deb]

A friend forwarded me this little interactive simulator. I went through their little training thing, then the first thing it did is told me I didn't stop the autonomous car from running a red light. How could any car claiming to be autonomous run a red light? If it does, it's not autonomous.

This is meant to illustrate how difficult it can be for safety drivers to intervene quickly enough if the vehicle's autonomous driving system unexpectedly fails to react.

The headline "How does an autonomous car work? Not so great." will draw people in who earnestly want to know how autonomous cars work, then have them leave scared of them.

And rightfully so. We don't need more industry hype, but a dose of reality.

As mentioned above, Waymo has no problems with this, Uber's autonomous cars also can read traffic lights, too. It got me wondering who paid for it, because what I'd seen was largely fact-free. I've since relegated WaPo to the same category of news sources like the NY Post or Huffington Post

I think you have missed the whole point of this article.

 

[DukeofURL]

I think you have missed the whole point of this article.

The point was to scare people instead of educate them?

The article was titled "How do autonomous vehicles work?", not "How do autonomous cars fail when they don't work properly".

 

[Eno Deb]

The point was to scare people instead of educate them?

The point was obviously to illustrate some of the difficulties that autonomous driving systems still have, as opposed to the rosy expectations that some industry players have hyped up over the last few years. The premise is:

"The industry has been saying a techno-utopia is just around the corner, a transportation revolution that will make society better. But how close is that, really? "

The article was titled "How do autonomous vehicles work?", not "How do autonomous cars fail when they don't work properly".

And you conveniently left out the "Not so great" part?