Waymo

[diplomat33]

This is one of the most asinine statements I've ever read.
The number of sensors is not how you determine if a car is autonomous or not.

All the autonomous cars we've seen so far from the main AV companies all have more than just 2 lidars. And they have radar and cameras too. So I don't think it unreasonable to conclude that it is probably not an autonomous car from one of the main AV companies. Perhaps it is an autonomous car from a different company that we've not seen but the main AV companies don't use just 2 lidars for their autonomous cars. IMO, it makes more sense that it is probably a mapping car.

 

[diplomat33]

Not sure if this was shared before but this is a super informative presentation on Waymo's 4D deep temporal scene understanding, ViDAR, VectorNet, TnT prediction network and 3D Auto Labeling:

 

[diplomat33]

Welcome to Simulation City, the virtual world where Waymo tests its autonomous vehicles

Simulation City is Waymo’s new virtual world for AV testing.

www.theverge.com

By the way, here is the original blog from Waymo about SimulationCity:

Simulation City: Introducing Waymo's most advanced simulation system yet for autonomous driving

At Waymo, we use simulation to advance the Waymo Driver's abilities in several ways. We can amplify our number of real-world miles to accelerate our Driver’s learning, prepare for rare events, train new models, validate new software, and even evaluate how the Waymo Driver would have performed in...

blog.waymo.com

It has good information.

 

[diplomat33]

How well do you know Waymo?

Take the quiz:

Test Your Knowledge | Let's Talk Autonomous Driving

Contact us if you're interested in becoming a part of the Let's Talk Self-Driving campaign.

ltad.com

I scored 8/9. I only missed question 5.

 

[rxlawdude]

How well do you know Waymo?

Take the quiz:

Test Your Knowledge | Let's Talk Autonomous Driving

Contact us if you're interested in becoming a part of the Let's Talk Self-Driving campaign.

ltad.com

I scored 8/9. I only missed question 5.

Shill site for Waymo, since the questions are highly specific to Waymo? Misleading website name, since it's only discussing Waymo autonomy.

The site is owned by Waymo.

 

[diplomat33]

Shill site for Waymo, since the questions are highly specific to Waymo? Misleading website name, since it's only discussing Waymo autonomy.

The site is owned by Waymo.

That is why I wrote "How well do you know Waymo?" since the quiz is really about Waymo.

LTAD is a public education initiative led by Waymo. Their purpose is to promote Waymo's autonomous driving to the public. I thought that was common knowledge.

 

[DanCar]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1414690239394639872

Waymo @Jaguar I-PACE test cars have become ubiquitous in San Francisco and I haven’t seen a single modified Chrysler Pacifica mini van from them in weeks. Hopefully this means @Waymo is focusing on electric mobility and maybe they’ll even launch for public use soon!

 

[diplomat33]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1414690239394639872

JJ Ricks also noticed that Waymo is adding pics of the I-Pace in the Waymo app that suggests that Waymo is getting ready to add the electric I-Pace to the ride-hailing.

So, I do think we are seeing some good signs that Waymo is preparing to switch over to the 5th Gen electric I-Pace and launch ride-hailing in SF with it.

And, they publicly announced the 5th Gen in March of last year. So they have had over a year to test the 5th Gen hardware. I think they are almost ready to deploy it now.

 

[diplomat33]

JJ Rick's last Waymo video for awhile:

00:00 Explanation (why I'm leaving)
01:54 Waymo Via truck leaving the depot
02:14 The setup
02:28 Car arriving
02:55 Boarding
03:40 Ride start
05:55 Unprotected left (not tricky)
06:30 Protected right
06:43 Slowing down slightly for bird
06:50 Four way stop with obstructed view of the stop sign
11:21 Police car visualization on the screen
11:49 Unprotected right
12:51 Proceed through yellow light
13:32 Right lane change being cautious around another car
13:51 Protected right
17:40 Lane change into new lane
22:46 Unprotected left (not tricky)
26:08 Unprotected left
26:30 Unprotected left (this one is typically scary)
27:44 Ride end
28:11 Waymo eats my camera
28:40 My next video?
29:03 Bloopers
0:14 Farewell tribute

 

[JJRicks]

JJ Ricks also noticed that Waymo is adding pics of the I-Pace in the Waymo app that suggests that Waymo is getting ready to add the electric I-Pace to the ride-hailing.

So, I do think we are seeing some good signs that Waymo is preparing to switch over to the 5th Gen electric I-Pace and launch ride-hailing in SF with it.

And, they publicly announced the 5th Gen in March of last year. So they have had over a year to test the 5th Gen hardware. I think they are almost ready to deploy it now.

!!!!! uhhhhhhhhhhhhh I hope Waymo doesn't see that I did this Lol

 

[diplomat33]

!!!!! uhhhhhhhhhhhhh I hope Waymo doesn't see that I did this Lol

I am not trying to get you into trouble. I wanted to share your scoop.

 

[Bladerskb]

We spent two days riding Waymo's driverless taxis and it felt surprisingly normal

From the app to the riding experience, here’s our take on Waymo’s robotaxis, which are publicly available in the Phoenix, AZ, suburbs

www.morningbrew.com

5) Maneuverability: Driver can weave between lanes just fine, but it also doesn’t change lanes unnecessarily. I was very impressed by the vehicles’ ability to take unprotected left turns (i.e., without a green arrow).

• My Arizona trip was right before July 4. In some parking lots, fireworks vendors had erected makeshift tents with a perimeter of traffic cones surrounding them. In one trip, Driver was circling a lot’s outer edge and making a final end run to the drop-off. Just one problem: It had to pass through an ultra-narrow berth between a fireworks stand and the curb. The car laid on the brakes after inching toward the slot. The fireworks vendor manning the stand, named Austin, stood up, approached the car, and watched on curiously. After a few seconds, the car glided through the ~7.5-foot berth without incident. Afterwards, Austin told me he was surprised by how the van negotiated the scenario.

• For a fleeting moment near the fireworks stand, I thought Driver would have to phone home for help. Or be forced to put it in reverse, extricate itself from the situation, and find a new drop-off. But across all ten trips, I never got stuck. There weren’t any trip interruptions or situations in which Waymo Driver had to pull over.

• 10) Emergency vehicles: During trip #8, a fire truck with sirens on had to pass us. Along with the few vehicles around us, I was stopped for a red light that had just turned green. The car did not move until the fire truck had gone through the intersection, so it was a relatively easy test.

 

[diplomat33]

We spent two days riding Waymo's driverless taxis and it felt surprisingly normal

From the app to the riding experience, here’s our take on Waymo’s robotaxis, which are publicly available in the Phoenix, AZ, suburbs

www.morningbrew.com

Impressive how the Waymo handled the special case of the fireworks tent in the parking lot. Sounds like Waymo has made a lot of progress with these types of cases because I think the Waymo Driver would have had to pause and ask Remote Assistance for guidance in the past. I can't wait to see rides with the 5th Gen I-Pace because I think it will be even better.

 

[Terminator857]

@JJRicks Did Waymo handle the rain?

Arizona weather 2021: From record-breaking heat to monsoon storms

Arizona residents see monsoon storms roll in and temperatures get hotter across the state during the summer of 2021.

www.azcentral.com

Will it handle the rain?

Storms, flash flooding expected for the weekend in Phoenix area

Flash flooding was expected to be a continued threat due to a "very active" storm pattern over the weekend, weather officials said.

www.azcentral.com

 

[diplomat33]

@JJRicks Did Waymo handle the rain?

Arizona weather 2021: From record-breaking heat to monsoon storms

Arizona residents see monsoon storms roll in and temperatures get hotter across the state during the summer of 2021.

www.azcentral.com

Will it handle the rain?

Storms, flash flooding expected for the weekend in Phoenix area

Flash flooding was expected to be a continued threat due to a "very active" storm pattern over the weekend, weather officials said.

www.azcentral.com

I don't think any autonomous vehicle would be expected to handle flash floods.

But for the public driverless ride-hailing service in Chandler, Waymo puts the safety drivers back in or drives manually when it rains. It is just a safety precaution. Waymo does not want to take any chances of an accident with the public riding in their vehicles.

 

[rxlawdude]

I don't think any autonomous vehicle would be expected to handle flash floods.

But for the public driverless ride-hailing service in Chandler, Waymo puts the safety drivers back in or drives manually when it rains. It is just a safety precaution. Waymo does not want to take any chances of an accident with the public riding in their vehicles.

And again, realistically, how is this going to scale in urban areas? A bunch of "stand by" safety drivers just sitting around waiting for the rain?

 

[diplomat33]

And again, realistically, how is this going to scale in urban areas? A bunch of "stand by" safety drivers just sitting around waiting for the rain?

No. Waymo will not scale with a bunch of safety drivers on standby. Don't be silly. The safety drivers are temporary. The technology will get better to where they don't need safety drivers at all. Waymo will scale when they are confident it is safe enough to remove safety drivers.

Lety, who works at Waymo, explains in this video, that Waymo will scale to other urban areas when Waymo has enough data to prove to regulators that it is safe enough:

Q: Are they (Waymo) better than the average human? Replacing some random car on the road with a Waymo, would it make the roads safer?

A: Yes it does. I think we would never launch a rider-only service if we did not meet that base safety framework.

Q: If that is true, then it kind of means that every vehicle not on the road, is a worst situation, do you know what I mean?

A: We are working really hard to launch this in larger areas and new areas too. But we need the experience to show the regulators, why we believe it is safer, and for that you need to be driving miles, a number of miles you feel comfortable with, statistically speaking.

Source:

 

[rxlawdude]

No. Waymo will not scale with a bunch of safety drivers on standby. Don't be silly. The safety drivers are temporary. The technology will get better to where they don't need safety drivers at all. Waymo will scale when they are confident it is safe enough to remove safety drivers.

Lety, who works at Waymo, explains in this video, that Waymo will scale to other urban areas when Waymo has enough data to prove to regulators that it is safe enough:



Source:

Okay, then. So a heavy rainstorm will ground the entire fleet?

Yep, that's gonna work when demand for rides goes up.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Okay, then. So a heavy rainstorm will ground the entire fleet?

Yep, that's gonna work when demand for rides goes up.

Will that hurt Waymo's (hypothetical) profits when the weather is good? Will consumers be so annoyed when they're not available that they'll stop using them altogether?
Obviously Waymo plans to get to their desired level of safety when operating in the rain. It's also possible they just haven't driven enough miles in the rain yet to estimate how safe the system is.

 

[diplomat33]

Will that hurt Waymo's (hypothetical) profits when the weather is good? Will consumers be so annoyed when they're not available that they'll stop using them altogether?

I doubt it. They might be annoyed if they need a ride in the rain and it is not available. But if it is sunny and they need a ride and a ride is available, they will take the ride.

Obviously Waymo plans to get to their desired level of safety when operating in the rain. It's also possible they just haven't driven enough miles in the rain yet to estimate how safe the system is.

Exactly. Right now, Waymo probably does not have enough miles in the rain to be confident of it's safety. When they do have enough miles to prove safety, they will deploy in the rain.