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Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

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Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#71

Post by bmj »

Roritharr wrote: post #9
sbarre wrote: post #7

I wonder how Uber drivers feel about working for a company that is actively trying to make them obsolete. Not passing judgement or anything, just kind of a strange thing to contemplate.. Uber kept saying they were disrupting the taxi industry by letting more people participate when really in the end they're trying to remove the people from the equation altogether.

Most Uber drivers i've talked to about this, and i basically always talk about this when using Uber, all see themselves as just doing this for a short while, 2-3 years, so they don't see themselves being affected by this.

But that's a short view, right? As Uber moves into more and more places, that means more and more drivers that will eventually be replaced. You're absolutely correct that it will not affect people driving for Uber right now, but it certainly will affect those who start driving in three years[0].

[0] This, of course, assumes that driver-less cars will be ready for prime time in three years.

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#72

Post by OpenDrapery »

sbarre wrote: post #7

I wonder how Uber drivers feel about working for a company that is actively trying to make them obsolete. Not passing judgement or anything, just kind of a strange thing to contemplate.. Uber kept saying they were disrupting the taxi industry by letting more people participate when really in the end they're trying to remove the people from the equation altogether.

Most all of us work for companies that would like to make us obsolete. Payroll is a necessary evil in the enterprise, as far as "the business" is concerned.

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#73

Post by bsilvereagle »

stenius wrote: post #67
meggar wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how it will handle the stop sign on the 376 on ramp in Squirrel Hill.

What makes this stop sign a challenge?

In most places, when you merge onto a highway you have a ramp of decent length with a yield sign. You are able to get up to speed and merge safely.

In this particular spot, the end of your on-ramp has a stop sign. So, you're sitting at a dead stop with 65+ mph traffic 10 ft in front of you. Things get even more complicated since you're merging into an exit ramp. You have approximately 1/4 mile of road to merge into the fast moving traffic, then immediately get over a lane otherwise you're on the exit ramp!

Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4288195,-79.9333775,3a,75y,6...

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#74

Post by technofiend »

nkoren wrote: post #15

Ubiquitous comment, as a person within the industry: there's a big difference between cars that have a hands-free driving mode, and cars that do not have a driver. The latter will be an absolute game-changer; the former can yield some marginal gains in safety and congestion, but does not really shatter any paradigms. This is the former. The latter will certainly happen eventually, but is orders of magnitude more chal…

>Ubiquitous comment, as a person within the industry: there's a big difference between cars that have a hands-free driving mode, and cars that do not have a driver.

Surely the pay is far less for the passive driver? If not I assume it will be soon.

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#75

Post by ap22213 »

It's interesting that they chose Pittsburgh. Having grown up there and they having lived in many different places since, I have learned to appreciate having learned to drive on those roads, especially during winter.

Many roads in Pittsburgh, and western PA in general, can be very curvy and have tight-radius. They're also often steep.

The on-ramps are peculiar because merging traffic must yield, visibility can be poor, and since some on-ramps can have tight radius and be steep, it makes it a little more challenging to merge. However, all of that is not that difficult to learn. It's much more interesting when you add in a foot of snow and ice and blowing snow.

Also, Pittsburgh is an 'older city' so large parts of it were built before cars. Highways have been 'bolted on' in some places, especially the ones that bisect downtown. Many people unfamiliar with Pittsburgh can get lost when coming in from 376 because on entering downtown, there are several quick exits and lots of lane switching.

It makes sense since CMU is there and a lot of robotics people, but interesting nonetheless.

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#76

Post by oDot »

technofiend wrote: post #74
nkoren wrote: post #15

Ubiquitous comment, as a person within the industry: there's a big difference between cars that have a hands-free driving mode, and cars that do not have a driver. The latter will be an absolute game-changer; the former can yield some marginal gains in safety and congestion, but does not really shatter any paradigms. This is the former. The latter will certainly happen eventually, but is orders of magnitude more chal…

>Ubiquitous comment, as a person within the industry: there's a big difference between cars that have a hands-free driving mode, and cars that do not have a driver. Surely the pay is far less for the passive driver? If not I assume it will be soon.

A driver that's there for safety reasons is a good driver and is paid well

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#77

Post by majewsky »

jayjay71 wrote: post #35
puranjay wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much has the recent interest and investment in self-driving cars impacted this estimate? 5 years ago, I would have said that level 4 automation is 20 years away. With all these billions pouring in, I'd cut that projection in less than half. I'm certain that I won't be driving a car ever in 2030

I think it actually doesn't make that much difference. The problem, I believe, is that people are used to rapid advances in software. Lots of small iterations can take you a long way, but sometimes you just reach a hurdle which requires a breakthrough. A fully self-driving car would need a huge breakthrough in perception (which most people categorize under AI) in order to work. Computer vision actually started out in…

> how hard could it be to classify objects in images? Well, decades later and it's still a hugely unsolved problem.

AFAIK Google's cars rely on radar to identify the position of objects, which I would think is vastly easier.

Of course, there's still the interesting challenge of classifying objects into traffic partipicants and obstacles.

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#79

Post by dilap »

technofiend wrote: post #74
nkoren wrote: post #15

Ubiquitous comment, as a person within the industry: there's a big difference between cars that have a hands-free driving mode, and cars that do not have a driver. The latter will be an absolute game-changer; the former can yield some marginal gains in safety and congestion, but does not really shatter any paradigms. This is the former. The latter will certainly happen eventually, but is orders of magnitude more chal…

>Ubiquitous comment, as a person within the industry: there's a big difference between cars that have a hands-free driving mode, and cars that do not have a driver. Surely the pay is far less for the passive driver? If not I assume it will be soon.

Hmm, I'm not so sure.

First, Uber drivers are already not making much. Drivers I've talked to here in SF say they are near $15/hour (though they can more in the form of bonuses if they hit certain hours-driven targets).

Second, the job of a passive driver will actually be both more boring and harder -- you have to pay attention while doing nothing, but be ready to take over in a second. It's like being a passenger, except you can't distract yourself in anyway. I'd much rather just drive.

Re: Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

#80

Post by rayiner »

Retric wrote: post #36
jayjay71 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the way Google does it as well, and in my opinion is a fundamental architectural failure. There's a reason after several years Google still has tested in so few locations. Delphi has a more robust system (in theory), but the accuracy isn't quite as good. To the best of my knowledge Ford is also taking a different approach which doesn't depend on super-detailed maps to operate. The technology to compare the su…

You could drive down every road in the US for under 10 million dollars. So as long as you can keep them updated I don't think highly detailed maps are a problem. Especially if this is supposed to be a backup for GPS.

Considering how often GPS gets confused here in DC, I'm amazed we are suggesting relying on it to drive the car.
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