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Waymo

Discussion in 'Autopilot & Autonomous/FSD' started by Daniel in SD, Oct 5, 2020.

  1. diplomat33

    diplomat33 Well-Known Member

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    #561 diplomat33, Jan 16, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2021
    Yes, and the current geofenced area does that. If you watch JJRicks' videos, you will see that there are plenty of major shopping areas, including Cotsco's and Walmart's, as well as residential areas, in the current geofenced area. It does represent a good cross section of shopping and residential. So, it might miss some shopping areas that you think it should have been included but it does include important shopping and residential areas.
     
  2. ThomasD

    ThomasD Member

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    I wish they would geo fence counties instead of just cities. Operating in an entire county could get a better cross section of the population. You could get large towns/cities and small semi rural and rural areas. People going from the country to the city and people going from the city to the country.
     
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  3. diplomat33

    diplomat33 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, that would be great. And I am sure Waymo will make their service areas bigger over time.
     
  4. powertoold

    powertoold Active Member

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    Can it go on freeways with the current service (same as JJs)? Is there a video?
     
  5. diplomat33

    diplomat33 Well-Known Member

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    Waymo Driver is capable of driving on freeways. The First Responders Guide does mention freeways as part of the ODD on page 10:

    The Waymo vehicle is intended to operate in the following conditions:
    ● On roadways including freeways, highways, city streets, and rural roads with posted speed limits up to 65 mph
    ● In parking lots
    ● At all times day and night
    ● In light rain and fog

    AFAIK, the Waymo rides used to include highways but they stopped. Currently, the driverless rides don't do highway driving. I think @JJRicks mentioned in one of his videos that the cars were too slow merging unto to the highways in fast traffic. I imagine Waymo will enable driverless rides on the highway in the future.

    @JJRicks if you hear anything new or they do enable highway driving, please do a video. :)

    Also, the Waymo Safety Report on page 16 has a map which shows the current driverless area and future expansion plans. So, Waymo does have plans to greatly expand the driverless area in the Phoenix area.

    [​IMG]

    I also found this interesting. In case, people were wondering. Waymo's goal is L5:

    "Waymo’s operational design domain continues to evolve. Our ultimate goal is to develop fully self-driving technology that can move people and things from A to B, anytime, anywhere, and in all conditions. As our system’s capabilities grow and are validated, we will expand our operational design domain to bring our technology to more people."
     
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  6. Bladerskb

    Bladerskb Senior Software Engineer

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    What then will u say when they expand their driverless cars from 50sq mile to 100sq mile right around summer time this year. Basically around 6 months from now?
     
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  7. GlmnAlyAirCar

    GlmnAlyAirCar Active Member

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    but...but...but, waymo’s product is inferior to Tesla’s. And if they do L5 if won’t be inferior to Tesla. So your information must be wrong!
     
  8. EVNow

    EVNow Well-Known Member

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    Why haven't they already done so ? According to people around here, Waymo has solved FSD ;)
     
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  9. ThomasD

    ThomasD Member

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    Waymo's plan is to drive anywhere anytime in any conditions and in rural areas. Will the cars be able to detect if a roadway is is suitable for the Waymo car to drive on. I just doubt that these cars will ever be able to handle any conditions.
    [​IMG]
     
  10. powertoold

    powertoold Active Member

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    Waymo's car single car perception is very good (see the triple car on left):

    Screen Shot 2021-01-18 at 9.03.21 PM.png

    However, I've noticed a consistent and concerning issue with Waymo. Whenever it drives towards a line of stationary cars, it gets confused. Either it will ping pong within the lane or it will phantom brake (almost every time).

    See speedometer / wheel at:

    6:17
    12:31

     
  11. diplomat33

    diplomat33 Well-Known Member

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    New interview with Saswat Panigrahi, Waymo’s senior director of product management:

    Two highlights for me:

    Can you talk about the specific tech advancements that the team will now prioritize?
    "From a technical standpoint, 2021 is probably going to be “the year of the long tail”. We’ve already demonstrated with our Phoenix service that a successful fully autonomous ride-hailing service is possible, and now we’re focused on solving the long tail of problems that will allow us to efficiently scale and one day bring the benefits of that service to even more people. For example, we’ve found from over 11 years of testing in major cities that autonomous vehicles in dense urban environments need to be prepared to encounter many more types of vehicle and road users, far more frequently—and obviously we need to continue working to improve our technology so that we can handle those edge cases safely."

    Waymo's 2021 roadmap:
    "With Waymo One, we’ve heard extremely positive feedback from riders in Phoenix following our public launch last year, and look forward to continuing to expand and serve more riders. We’re testing in multiple locations around the country, too, and as we put the 5th-generation Waymo Driver on the road, you’ll start seeing more of our all-electric Jaguar I-PACEs integrated into the Waymo One fleet in Phoenix, as well as driving down the busy streets of San Francisco, where we’re ramping up testing. We’re excited about this opportunity to continue advancing our Waymo Driver in our home state of California."

    "When it comes to Waymo Via, we’re excited to continue our strong local delivery partnership with UPS and AutoNation in Phoenix. WIth trucking, we’ll continue expanding our testing across the Southwest U.S., advancing our partnership with Daimler to build a fully redundant truck for the Waymo Driver (meaning it has the backup systems built in that enable us to safely remove the human backup driver), and continuing to deliver freight on behalf of our fleet customers."

    Read the whole interview here: Q&A: Inside Waymo's 2021 Game Plan for Autonomous Ride-Hailing and Trucking
     
  12. diplomat33

    diplomat33 Well-Known Member

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    In a new interview with German mag, Manager, Krafcik provided more info on cost:

    Waymo car + computer + sensors = "no more expensive than moderately equipped S-Class"

    Hardware cost = 0.30 cents per mile

    Google translate:

    "Waymo's cars, including the computers and sensors, are "no more expensive than a moderately equipped S-Class". With hardware costs of 30 cents per mile, Waymo's business has potential for "a remarkable margin". "I'm sure this will be a very profitable business.""

    Waymo-Chef John Krafcik: "Wir wollen keine eigenen Autos bauen – wir entwickeln den Fahrer"
     
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  13. mspisars

    mspisars Active Member

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    daaaaamn, they have a long way to go...
    upload_2021-1-22_15-36-22.png
     
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  14. 82bert

    82bert Member

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    Phenomenal gas mileage too...
     
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  15. mspisars

    mspisars Active Member

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    And this is the base MSRP, he says moderately optioned S-Class... so ~$200k per Waymo car.
    I mean, I really thought they were further along than this, but daaamn!
     
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  16. diplomat33

    diplomat33 Well-Known Member

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    That is not the price of a S-Class. You are deliberately picking the most expensive S-Class and then adding a lot of options. That would not be a moderately optioned S-Class.

    The S-Class starts at $94,250. A moderately optioned S-Class would definitely not be $200k.

    Directly from the Mercedes website:

    [​IMG]

    Build Your Own Car - Luxury Custom Cars
     
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  17. mspisars

    mspisars Active Member

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    @diplomat33 did I get the wrong S-Class or something? Or do you think he was talking about E-Class?
    Or maybe you just upset that your god - Waymo - keeps sucking?
     
  18. 82bert

    82bert Member

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    Even if absolute cheapest version starts at 94k, no way you’re getting out of there for less than 110k. So what’s a moderately equipped s class?
     
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  19. mspisars

    mspisars Active Member

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    2020 starts from $94k ...
    upload_2021-1-22_15-53-22.png
     
  20. diplomat33

    diplomat33 Well-Known Member

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    No. You posted what Google lists for the newest 2021 S-Class. I posted from the website for the 2020 S-Class.

    Bottlom line is that Krafcik was vague in his answer. He did not specify what S-Class. So it is really pointless to try to guess. Of course, you picked the most expensive S-Class you could find so that you could rip Waymo.
     
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