Blog Waymo Invites Consumers to ‘See Through the Eyes’ of a Driverless Car

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The idea of a car navigating public roads without the presence of a human driver still makes most people uneasy. Even strong advocates of the technology believe there’s still work to be done to prove autonomous cars are safe in all driving conditions.

While the technology is obviously a major challenge, building trust among consumers will also be a major focus for companies working in the space.

Alphabet’s self-driving arm Waymo is already taking on that public relations challenge. The company released today a video that offers a 360-degree view of a ride in one of its driverless Chrysler Pacifica vans, as well as some explanation on how the technology works.

According to the video description:

Waymo began as the Google self-driving car project in 2009. Today, we have the world’s only fleet of fully self-driving cars on public roads. Step into our 360° video and take control of the camera to see through the “eyes” of our car.

[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8R148hFxPw” video_title=”1″][vc_column_text]Waymo is already operating a fully driverless service in Phoenix, Ariz., allowing people to apply to be part of an “early rider program.” The company also recently said it ordered “thousands” of Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to scale a driverless ride-hailing service.

Another hurdle for companies developing driverless technology is government regulation, but there have been some positive developments on that front. For instance, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles passed regulations this week that would allow driverless cars to operate on roads as early as April. The regulations require a remote human operator – who could be miles away – to monitor the vehicle as a fallback.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

 

[barjohn]

Check out the Caddilac system. It seems to do freeway smoother and better than Tesla though it doesn't have lane change and is more limited on which highways it will operate.

 

[Tam]

...I have provided proof that you are wrong and yet you continue to speculate..

Just like when Porsche says it can beat Tesla Supercharger rate and provide its cars 250 miles in less than 20 minutes.

That's an announcement with no demonstration.

I can speculate that it will be able easy to do that but when is still the question.

Waymo has not announced it is the first L3 on freeway. Nor does it announce that it will do much better than Audi with faster speed of 37 MPH on freeway.

I can speculate that it will be able to on freeway so easily but the question is still when.

 

[Kant.Ing]

I believe the computers see no difference if the speed limit is 90mph and all human walk in 10x speed.

 

[jrad6515]

That's some hot stuff. Waymo is lightyears ahead of Tesla. Karpathy and his Autopilot team have their work cut out for them. I don't doubt they are working hard but progress has been almost inconsequential so far. No EAP, no FSD and no hint of it.

I agree, pretty impressive. However, do we really know that Tesla has nothing like that? They certainly haven't given us consumers those capabilities yet but neither has Waymo. I suspect that Tesla is testing stuff much more advanced than is available to the end user right now. At least I hope so.

 

[dhanson865]

That's some hot stuff. Waymo is lightyears ahead of Tesla. Karpathy and his Autopilot team have their work cut out for them. I don't doubt they are working hard but progress has been almost inconsequential so far. No EAP, no FSD and no hint of it.

So you are saying Elon is wrong when he says Lidar is too expensive for mass market and not required.

If he is right then Waymo is lightyears behind Tesla. They won't be able to hit price targets.

It's up to you to prove the earth is flat and that Lidar can be made cheap enough to put in all autonomous cars.

 

[dhanson865]

I haven't seen any Waymo's demo of various scenarios on freeway with all crazy speed from 90 to zero MPH at all.

Sounds like Waymo is ahead on local roads but behind Tesla on freeways!

Not to mention that waymo does it with way more expensive hardware so they can't hit the price target Tesla is aiming for.

Waymo's attempt at highway will probably to add more (quantity) equipment or more expensive (quality) equipment to add the functionality they haven't achieved yet.

For sure they don't have it integrated inside the car or integrated into the shape of the car. It's a bulky add on. I always thought the 2004-2009 Prius shape looked good because it was basically just smoothly aerodynamic curves but this makes it look great by comparison with so much sticking up into the airflow. I'm sure this can drive itself but how much does it hurt efficiency and range due to increased weight and aerodynamic losses.

 

[Bladerskb]

I haven't seen any Waymo's demo of various scenarios on freeway with all crazy speed from 90 to zero MPH at all.

Sounds like Waymo is ahead on local roads but behind Tesla on freeways!

please tell me this is a joke right?

 

[Bladerskb]

What it really costs to turn a car into a self-driving vehicle

Most experts would say about $8,000-$10,000 but when you ask them to list the cost details, it's about $250,000 option and you also need to add the price of the car on top of that so it's about $300,000 total in 2017 price.

That's a lot to pay but some already pay a full $250,000 for a Roadster so $300,000 should be affordable for them

For a ridesharing service, it's a high initial investment but they save on the labor for the rest of the life of the car and it can work 24/7 overtime to recuperate the cost.

Seriously brah? come on.

Google’s Waymo invests in LIDAR technology, cuts costs by 90 percent

Velodyne cuts VLP-16 lidar price to $4k - SPAR 3D

Second of all, that has to be the WORST SDC article ever. first of all, radar doesn't cost $10,000 and cameras most definitely doesn't cost $6,000.

 

[Bladerskb]

Most TACC can do this at highway speed so what would make it so hard for Waymo?

I'm coming to the conclusion that there is no need for further "conversation" as I have provided proof that you are wrong and yet you continue to speculate.

Waymo has nothing to prove. The Earth is not flat. Its not up for debate, its up to you to prove the earth is flat (i.e Waymo can't do highway). I've already proven they can, do and do it better than anyone else (if you believe facts and data, if you don't, I suggest we never communicate).

critical thinking is something alot of tesla fans refuse to use it seems. it almost like they don't reason about what they say before they say it. its like in their mind they are going "I have to defend tesla and attack the competition at all cost, quick come up with a rebuttal"

Their love for elon has completely clouded their judgment.

 

[schonelucht]

I see them driving around Chandler all the time and they even come into the parking lot at work for some reason. Looks like tneyve got a great system running to allow it to go 100% driver-less.

Have you signed up for their early rides program? Would love to see a youtube video of an actual user taking a ride from hailing the car, all the way through being picked up, drive and drop off. Somehow, no-one has done that yet it seems. All we get are either videos from the press or the company. I think raw unedited footage of an actual rider would offer gread additional insight.

 

[schonelucht]

So you are saying Elon is wrong when he says Lidar is too expensive for mass market and not required.

Yes. Elon's fond of the first principle's argument. What is there to make it expensive? Nothing really. Just a laser, some optics and processing power. That means the price is high simply because no one has yet optimized for price. Now, the price of LIDAR has already spectacularly come down on just the possibility that it might be crucial for a mass market. Imagine what will happen once that mass market is really there.

Elon used the same arguments for Li-Ion batteries in 2010 and factory implementation in 2016. Why wouldn't they be valid for LIDAR in 2018?

 

[malcolm]

Their love for elon has completely clouded their judgment

But all that's missing from this one from Waymo is the Paint It Black soundtrack.

Seriously, haven't we seen enough autonomous-demo-videos-posted-by-the-manufacturer to be sceptical of this sort of thing?

Let's wait for the independently verified testing, shall we?

 

[Pentium2004]

Just like when Porsche says it can beat Tesla Supercharger rate and provide its cars 250 miles in less than 20 minutes.

That's an announcement with no demonstration.

I can speculate that it will be able easy to do that but when is still the question.

Waymo has not announced it is the first L3 on freeway. Nor does it announce that it will do much better than Audi with faster speed of 37 MPH on freeway.

I can speculate that it will be able to on freeway so easily but the question is still when.

It's actually L4 and runs at highway speed. They don't have to announce L3 when they are demonstrating L4 daily that you can actually ride in. Have you rode in a Tesla that drives itself without anyone in the driver seat? Will Tesla demonstrate it for you?

Alphabet's Waymo Is Already Running Level 4 Self-Driving Cars in Arizona

 

[mongo]

It's actually L4 and runs at highway speed. They don't have to announce L3 when they are demonstrating L4 daily that you can actually ride in. Have you rode in a Tesla that drives itself without anyone in the driver seat? Will Tesla demonstrate it for you?

Alphabet's Waymo Is Already Running Level 4 Self-Driving Cars in Arizona

There are many smart people at many companies working behind the scenes on this. Judging by media reports and what is released to the users may not be an accurate gauge of progress.

Press releases and disengagement classifications of highway vs street do not reveal anything about the complexity of cases the systems can handle. Waymo had 6 out of 63(?) highway disengagements, did they have 10% highway miles? 50%? 99%?
Did Tesla operate in hands-on-wheel mode which does not require reporting in CA?

As (not really) requested, a Tesla (not on highway) with no one in driver's seat. More vids exist where someone might as well have not been in the driver's seat. (And yes, AP1, but AP2/2.5 was not in the original (not really a) request).

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

It's actually L4 and runs at highway speed. They don't have to announce L3 when they are demonstrating L4 daily that you can actually ride in. Have you rode in a Tesla that drives itself without anyone in the driver seat? Will Tesla demonstrate it for you?

Alphabet's Waymo Is Already Running Level 4 Self-Driving Cars in Arizona

The advances are exciting, but they are still a long way from having a product. They're requiring intervention every 5,000-6,000 miles and they either need the system to be _much_ cheaper, or they need it to be _much_ better.

 

[Don TLR]

Have you signed up for their early rides program? Would love to see a youtube video of an actual user taking a ride from hailing the car, all the way through being picked up, drive and drop off. Somehow, no-one has done that yet it seems. All we get are either videos from the press or the company. I think raw unedited footage of an actual rider would offer gread additional insight.

I don't fit their model of Early Riders as I don't live in their territory and would only want to try it once.

 

[Tam]

...It's actually L4 and runs at highway speed...

Admittedly, I am really impressed with Waymo.

I do appreciate @croman for explaining and citing the DMV disengagement reports. Those are very helpful which makes the self-driving future more hopeful.

I guess I am just too impatient to see an announcement or demonstration on freeway as well.

 

[croman]

Admittedly, I am really impressed with Waymo.

I do appreciate @croman for explaining and citing the DMV disengagement reports. Those are very helpful which makes the self-driving future more hopeful.

I guess I am just too impatient to see an announcement or demonstration on freeway as well.

I can't believe you forced me to like an @Bladerskb post. I will forgive you this one time.

We'll see. Waymo has the lead but nothing is set in stone. This field changes so quickly.