Cruise Raises $12.5M for Self-Driving Cars, Poaches Tesla’s Lead on Autopilot

A total funding of $16.8 million sounds like a tiny amount of money to be able to develop this kind of complex technology, especially anything related to cars, which are heavily regulated. Their competitors - Tesla, Google and the huge car manufacturers - all have billions of dollars to throw around.

"The product to date has been a system that converts existing cars into self-driving cars down highways. ... There are sensor units that go on top of the car near the windshield and then there are actuators that control the steering and driving. There’s also a computer that goes in the trunk... The plan had been to sell Cruise systems for $10,000 each."

This doesn't sound like it would get significant acceptance from the public. Are people going to be comfortable getting third-party modifications done on their cars, which would be of unknown quality and safety and surely invalidate their cars' warranties?

I agree, it doesn't sound like much money. Their poaching of Tesla's head of Autopilot R&D is very interesting though, and is definitely a sign of confidence.

I think you're making quite a few assumptions though: (a) Getting third party modifications to make your current car self-driving may look crazy today, but when self-driving cars become more of a thing, it'll certainly be a more attractive option when compared to buying a new car altogether. (b) Right now the quality and safety are unknown, but assuredly they won't be in the future. I'm sure these devices will be tested thoroughly and have to meet specific regulations. (c) I'm not sure they would void the warranty, it would depend on a lot of factors.

Regardless, the article hints at an upcoming pivot from Cruise, so the described product may not even hit the market.

All "Cruise" seems to be talking about is lane keeping plus radar cruise control. BMW, Buick, Cadillac, and Volvo had that years ago. Mercedes is shipping it now. The big problem is keeping drivers from relying too much on a dumb system that almost works[1].

Everyone with a clue in the industry realizes the problem. Semi-automatic driving, with the expectation that the driver is alert and ready to take over, is an accident waiting to happen. Mercedes has a device to check if hands are on the wheel. (See video below for someone defeating that.) Cadillac has a seat vibrator. Most of those semi-auto systems are unable to detect junk such as a mattress on the highway, deer, pedestrians, and work crews. They assume a benign freeway environment. Most won't engage in a non-freeway environment.

What bothers me about "Cruise" is that they promote this assist technology as a full self-driving system, like what Google and CMU/Cadillac have in test. See the Cruise ad.[2]

The NTSB defines four levels of self-driving:

    0 - manual
    1 - Function-specific Automation 
        (example: anti-collision radar braking.)
    2 - Combined Function Automation 
        (adaptive cruise control plus lane centering.)
        (current Mercedes, etc. level)
    3 - Limited Self-Driving Automation
        (still needs a driver available to take over.)
        (current Google level)
    4 - Full self-driving automation
        (driver does nothing, may not even be present)
        (Google is trying to get there for 25MPH cars.)

Cruise is at level 2, but advertises as if at level 3.

Driving a level 2 car and thinking it's a level 3 car is deadly.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv9JYqhFV-M [2] http://www.getcruise.com/

"I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that there is already a very large market of people who like to tinker with cars. Imagine a self-driving Delorean"

Or my own version, a level 3-ish self-driving 1977 VW Rabbit :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCE35zbkciU

Congrats to the team! Best of luck!