Waymo to customers: “Completely driverless Waymo cars are on the way”

[Daniel in SD]

Waymo to customers: “Completely driverless Waymo cars are on the way” – TechCrunch
Sounds like Waymo is going to be the first to deploy autonomous vehicles. Hopefully they'll prove safety far greater than human drivers.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Hopefully this will go better than the Smart Summon rollout.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Hopefully this will go better than the Smart Summon rollout.

The vehicles will have to be in the line of sight of and less than 200 feet away from a Waymo employee so it should be no problem.

They are capable of driving the cars remotely, that's how they plan to deal with situations where the vehicle gets stuck. I'm assuming they're not going to just have people remotely monitor the vehicles continuously for this rollout, that would be silly.

 

[alsetym]

Wow, it's interesting that there are still many pundits that said...even this summer...that they don't think self driving is even close. And yet, here we are! Next question, how quickly will they be able to grow their boundaries and how far behind is GM?

 

[electracity]

I'm assuming they're not going to just have people remotely monitor the vehicles continuously for this rollout, that would be silly.

I am sure they will initially have a full time remote human monitor for each vehicle. They are simply moving the safety driver to a remote location. Baby steps.

 

[electracity]

Hopefully this will go better than the Smart Summon rollout.

Are you saying that Testa Taxi is still months away?

 

[vickh]

I hope google/chrysler will one day make a consumer version of the tech.

So far the safety tech and the plug in PHEV is only reason I'm considering the Pacifica. Problem is unlike Tesla it's only available for the highest trims and they have a lot of reliability issues

 

[electronblue]

Are you saying that Testa Taxi is still months away?

Well sure, 2020 is three months away. So 3 months maybe, 6 months definitely.

 

[DanCar]

Well sure, 2020 is three months away. So 3 months maybe, 6 months definitely.

With or without a safety driver?

 

[electronblue]

With or without a safety driver?

Well actually if you ask me, neither.

 

[alanbyvale]

Of course all these autonomous carriers use a different system to Tesla. They ring fence an area then map it to within an inch meaning their cars only have to avoid humans and moveable objects (Not an easy thing I know). Tesla want the car to be able to drive anywhere in the world and know how to react to any circumstance. A totally different plan and one that is going to be many, many years in the future given how poor summons is.

 

[croman]

Sometimes you need a crutch. No shame in that. Arrogance and hubris have brought down Gods.

 

[diplomat33]

Waymo to customers: “Completely driverless Waymo cars are on the way” – TechCrunch
Sounds like Waymo is going to be the first to deploy autonomous vehicles. Hopefully they'll prove safety far greater than human drivers.

This is exciting news. Now the real question is how soon will Waymo's driverless rides be available to the masses? I want to ride in one!

 

[DanCar]

This is exciting news. Now the real question is how soon will Waymo's driverless rides be available to the masses? I want to ride in one!

I consider this an exciting fat lie. The truth is there is still an employee in the car, just not a safety driver.

 

[Daniel in SD]

I consider this an exciting fat lie. The truth is there is still an employee in the car, just not a safety driver.

Where are they sitting? The back seat? Secret compartment under the hood?

 

[DanCar]

Where are they sitting? The back seat? Secret compartment under the hood?

Yep, Waymo is good at marketing stunts. No driver and no passengers. What is in question is passengers yes, and no one else in the car. If it has been happening, how come no one has posted a video?

 

[Daniel in SD]

Yep, Waymo is good at marketing stunts. No driver and no passengers. What is in question is passengers yes, and no one else in the car. If it has been happening, how come no one has posted a video?

You're right that they're probably phasing it in very slowly. Here's a video from a reporter:

There aren't many video of any rides on YouTube. I assume that's because the videos would be very boring!

 

[DanCar]

You're right that they're probably phasing it in very slowly. Here's a video from a reporter:

There aren't many video of any rides on YouTube. I assume that's because the videos would be very boring!

There are zero videos of independent people riding a driverless Waymo with no Waymo employees. I'm sure this is because it isn't happening. It would be far from boring, much more likely a video that would go viral.

 

[electronblue]

@DanCar Likely for the same reason there aren’t tons of any independent Waymo videos on YouTube or the like.

The early riders are under NDA.

I agree it would be an interesting video.

 

[Daniel in SD]

@DanCar Likely for the same reason there aren’t tons of any independent Waymo videos on YouTube or the like.

The early riders are under NDA.

I agree it would be an interesting video.

There is no NDA anymore. It is weird how there are so few videos on YouTube.