Waymo

[Bladerskb]

Last I saw, they still do not allow their cars to even go on a highway without safety driver in the dessert!

Have they changed that now?

while you praise the ability to go 10-20 miles without requiring a safety disengagement while also giving driver input the entire time (increasing/decreasing speed, pressing accelerator when the car stops at a dangerous situation, etc)

Don't you understand the strive is for a safety disengagement every X00,000 miles. Meaning if highways don't meet that criteria they will have safety drivers on them till they do. that doesn't mean they are at ~10-20 miles per disengagement.

 

[Bladerskb]

Tesla is the only one with such advanced features in end-user's hands.

Yet, the Waymo Preacher can't seem to see the improvements in these 2 months.

Really? i thought the complaints from people like you when videos like this were released is that its not in regular people's hands and only a PR stunt. That the routes were pre-planned and entire thing is NDA'ed. Your response was, if a regular average joe in phoenix could ride one or if you could fly to phoenix and ride one.

But now that literally anyone in the world can go to phoenix and ride in one just by downloading the app and selecting any route within a 50 sq-mile geofence. That argument like all arguments have disappeared and another argument have popped up just like i predicted. Just admit, you don't care about anything that doesn't bleed a T shaped red and ofcourse 25 Tesla Evangelists getting it is considered "end-user's hands".

https://www.youtube.com/user/j3rsdm5

 

[diplomat33]

Another great Waymo driverless ride:

 

[Singuy]

Waymo completely disengages under light drizzle....(supposedly "heavy rain"...guess these people never lived in FL). Tesla is 10 years behind this supposedly.

 

[Dan D.]

Another great Waymo driverless ride:

Did I hear it gunning it for the light at 6:58?

 

[diplomat33]

Did I hear it gunning it for the light at 6:58?

Yeah, sounds like it it, to get through the yellow.

 

[diplomat33]

Waymo completely disengages under light drizzle....(supposedly "heavy rain"...guess these people never lived in FL). Tesla is 10 years behind this supposedly.

We already discussed this video. Waymo can probably handle the rain but maybe not as reliably as they would like so they choose the disengage when they have passengers for safety. I am sure when Waymo's FSD is 99.99999% reliable in the rain, then they won't disengage anymore.

I would not say that Tesla is 10 years behind but Tesla is behind Waymo. I would say Tesla is about 5 years behind Waymo. Tesla's FSD has way more disengagements than Waymo. Remember, it's not about one video, it's about how long can you go without a disengagement. In nice weather, Waymo can drive around town day after day, week after week, month after month with no disengagements. Hence, why they go driverless. Tesla can't go that long with no disengagements.

 

[Singuy]

We already discussed this video. Waymo can probably handle the rain but maybe not as reliably as they would like so they choose the disengage when they have passengers for safety. I am sure when Waymo's FSD is 99.99999% reliable in the rain, then they won't disengage anymore.

I would not say that Tesla is 10 years behind but Tesla is behind Waymo. I would say Tesla is about 5 years behind Waymo. Tesla's FSD has way more disengagements than Waymo. Remember, it's not about one video, it's about how long can you go without a disengagement. In nice weather, Waymo can drive around town day after day, week after week, month after month with no disengagements. Hence, why they go driverless. Tesla can't go that long with no disengagements.

Still curious if waymo can even work in an area not HD mapped. How's their world building prediction software?

 

[ThomasD]

So if I flew into Sky Harbor Airport I could summon a Waymo self driving car and have it take me anywhere inside that 50 square mile area.

 

[diplomat33]

So if I flew into Sky Harbor Airport I could summon a Waymo self driving car and have it take me anywhere inside that 50 square mile area.

Yes. And I think the area is 100 sq mi now.

 

[ThomasD]

Won't Waymo have to be able to transport people with wheelchairs and be ADA compliant. If anyone with a smartphone can hail a ride within their operating area then they need to transport them

 

[diplomat33]

Won't Waymo have to be able to transport people with wheelchairs and be ADA compliant. If anyone with a smartphone can hail a ride within their operating area then they need to transport them

Yes, I would imagine so.

 

[diplomat33]

Great Lex Friedman interview with the CTO of Waymo.

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
2:16 - Computer games
7:23 - Childhood
9:55 - Robotics
10:44 - Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
12:56 - DARPA Urban Challenge
23:16 - Waymo origin story
38:58 - Waymo self-driving hardware
47:31 - Connected cars
53:23 - Waymo fully driverless service in Phoenix
57:45 - Getting feedback from riders
1:05:58 - Creating a product that people love
1:11:49 - Do self-driving cars need to break the rules like humans do?
1:18:33 - Waymo Trucks
1:24:11 - Future of Waymo
1:37:23 - Role of lidar in autonomous driving
1:50:23 - Machine learning is essential for autonomous driving
1:54:25 - Pedestrians
2:01:02 Trolley problem
2:05:30 Book recommendations
2:16:56 - Meaning of life

Lots of good info about Waymo's FSD.

 

[diplomat33]

From the Lex interview, Dolgov says that the fleet in Phoenix is using the 4th generation platform which he says is a foundation and is capable of driverless but is not the platform they will use to scale up. He says that the 5th generation platform is the one that Waymo plans to use for rapid scaling up. He says the 5th generation platform is a more general solution, has significantly better FSD capabilities and is also much cheaper and easier to manufacture at scale.

So I think we should keep in mind that the FSD we are seeing in Phoenix is not the best FSD that Waymo has and is not the FSD that Waymo will use to scale up.

 

[82bert]

So they have a better, cheaper, and more scalable version, but are focusing on the current generation?

 

[diplomat33]

So they have a better, cheaper, and more scalable version, but are focusing on the current generation?

No, they are not focused on the old generation. They have deployed test vehicles with the newer 5th generation. I think that is the Jaguar I-Pace. I think waymo is very much focused on the 5th generation and making it ready for full mass deployment to the public. But they are using the ride-hailing service in Phoenix as a test bed to improve their ride-hailing. They are learning a lot of valuable lessons from the ride-hailing service in Phoenix that they can apply to improving FSD, improving scalability, improving customer service etc... Dolgov says that a lot of the lessons Waymo learned from the ride-hailing service in Phoenix helped create the 5th generation platform. Also, Waymo is using the ride-hailing service in Phoenix to improve things like customer service and customer experience which are also important if you want a good ride-hailing service.

 

[diplomat33]

In the interview, Dolgov mentions that Waymo cars can drive autonomously with no internet connectivity as everything needed for FSD is in each individual car. Waymo cars also have the ability to share information like an accident or construction zone with the rest of the fleet in real-time.

 

[Doggydogworld]

Did I hear it gunning it for the light at 6:58?

Yes, it sped up from 40-41 to 45 mph. Interestingly it stayed at 45 mph after the light.

So if I flew into Sky Harbor Airport I could summon a Waymo self driving car and have it take me anywhere inside that 50 square mile area.

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport is not inside the 50 square mile driverless service area, nor is it inside the original 100 square mile Waymo One "safety driver" service area. But you could Uber to a point inside the service area then hail a Waymo.

A little info on Waymo's 5th generation hardware. It seems their (30??) Jaguars all have it, but none of the Pacificas in Phoenix. They are apparently putting the 5th gen on some Promaster Vans for cargo delivery, too.

I have no idea what vehicle they plan to use for large scale Robotaxi deployment, or any sense of timeline. Their technology is extremely good, but the business side feels like MBAs and corporate planner types running amok.

 

[diplomat33]

A little info on Waymo's 5th generation hardware. It seems their (30??) Jaguars all have it, but none of the Pacificas in Phoenix. They are apparently putting the 5th gen on some Promaster Vans for cargo delivery, too.

Correct. Dolgov mentions in the interview that the Pacifica fleet in Phoenix is 4th generation. He said Waymo designed the 5th generation for large scale robotaxi deployment.

I have no idea what vehicle they plan to use for large scale Robotaxi deployment, or any sense of timeline. Their technology is extremely good, but the business side feels like MBAs and corporate planner types running amok.

I think they might use the I-Pace. They are already testing the 5th Generation hardware on them and I think they reserved 20k of them. They might retrofit Pacificas with the 5th generation too. Or it might be a different vehicle altogether. When asked in the autonocast interview, what vehicle Waymo would use, Krafick was evasive and just said that Waymo works with automakers to get the vehicle they need. I suspect that Waymo wants to keep their options open in case a better vehicle shows up. Personally, I am hoping Waymo will custom design a robotaxi with no steering wheel like they did with the Firefly. I like the idea of a vehicle designed from the ground up to be a dedicated robotaxi rather than tacking hardware on a regular car.

Yeah, the tech is awesome. I just hope Waymo does not end up in a situation where they perfect autonomous driving but dilly dally with deploying it.

 

[Matias]

In the interview that @diplomat33 mentioned

. Here is some info about recent 5th gen Waymo car.

Most is built in house. Car has 5 lidars, 20 cameras, 6 radars.

Starts at aproximately 42:00