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Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

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Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#81

Post by more_corn »

maxerickson wrote: post #68
sremani wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is do the economics of self-driving cars work when you have to add and integrate all these additional equipment. Correct me, if I am wrong but aren't LIDAR cars supposed to cost you $200K+ ? Tesla is imitating humans in a way that removing LIDAR and relying on the compute to make up for them and build more accurate picture. Also, isn't Cruise owned by GM - who are the VCs here?

If you search for "bosch lidar" there's a bunch of 2 year old news about them selling one designed for autonomous vehicles for $10,000, with statements that they could likely drive the price towards $200 with mass production. So $200,000 is probably not correct.

It is correct for current pricing. Advances may drive those prices down. Right now the sensor packages exceed the price of all the other components.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#82

Post by dymk »

noah_buddy wrote: post #28
ketzo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can do anecdotes back and forth, but many people would absolutely love “Uber but there’s not a stranger in the front seat.”

Perhaps people would "love" that but I have a feeling that the continued retreat from all forms of socialization due to technology is not a good thing by and large for society. I would guess that most people who think they desire this wouldn't even think they desire it in terms of safety but instead in terms of avoiding distraction or awkwardness.

Technology lets me socialize an order of magnitude more than I'd otherwise. We as a species have never been more connected. If it also gives me respite from having to engage with someone I'd rather not in a car, all the better.

Honestly, we could all use a bit more of a break from each other, in my opinion.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#83

Post by parkingrift »

walrus01 wrote: post #8

Based on this image: https://images.ctfassets.net/95kuvdv8zn1v/6h1C7lPC79OLOlddEE... They and their VC backers are clearly betting on the concept that radars + lidar + imaging will be the ultimate successful solution in full self driving cars, as a completely opposite design and engineering philosophy from Tesla attempting to do "full self driving" with camera sensors and categorical rejection of lidar. It is interes…

Tesla will release L4 or L5 self driving this year. Musk said it himself.

Please ignore the fact that this is the 7th (or more?) year in a row he has said this.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#84

Post by V__ »

waffle_maniac wrote: post #67
comex wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The human accident rate is about one per 500K miles, so if they were able to get in that range, then yes, they would have succeeded; drivers would be able to stop paying attention to the road without putting themselves and others in danger. But the current FSD beta's intervention rate is more like one per 10 miles, judging from some quick googling. I see no particular reason to assume that incremental improvement can…

> current FSD beta's intervention rate is more like one per 10 miles Maybe in rural areas? The videos on YouTube are far more than one per 10 miles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTybjJj0ptw

On quick watch the driver intervenes at 4min 45sec and 5min 47sec.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#86

Post by more_corn »

nichochar wrote: post #78
georgeburdell wrote: post #72

I’m concerned about the timing of this. Former CEO Dan Ammann, fired in December, was a big champion of the robotaxi business model. It is speculated he was fired because GM CEO Mary Barra disagrees with this strategy and wants them to focus more on integration with existing GM vehicles. I am afraid that the robotaxi timeline was pulled in so that the rest of the believers inside Cruise can get supporting data to pro…

[Disclaimer] I work for cruise. Safety is the most critical value that our company has, and we live it every day in all of our processes / culture. I won't comment on the executive changes, but I can guarantee that this company (unlike some rivals...) would never compromise safety in any decision.

I once threw myself in front of a cruise vehicle to test it for safety. (That’s a bit of an exaggeration, I saw it coming, sped up and jumped into an open parking spot on a trajectory that would take me in front of I didn’t stop) It performed admirably. The safety driver didn’t see me coming but the computer did. The car decelerated to the point it would be able to stop if I kept coming. The safety driver couldn’t figure out what was happening at first. He was PISSED when he figured it out. Having done that and having never seen one commit an error or safety infraction, I now have a high degree of trust in the safety of cruise vehicles.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#87

Post by serverlessmom »

When I was in Vegas last I called for a "driverless car" via Lyft but instead of an empty car a male driver with a second man riding shotgun showed up to pick me up. The entire scenario made me feel sketched out so I refused to take the ride because I've seen so many news reports of people getting assaulted by drivers. I and many of my friends would feel more comfortable with the option of a driverless ride so I definitely understand the appeal. I'm excited to hear how this goes.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#88

Post by more_corn »

more_corn wrote: post #86
nichochar wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Disclaimer] I work for cruise. Safety is the most critical value that our company has, and we live it every day in all of our processes / culture. I won't comment on the executive changes, but I can guarantee that this company (unlike some rivals...) would never compromise safety in any decision.

I once threw myself in front of a cruise vehicle to test it for safety. (That’s a bit of an exaggeration, I saw it coming, sped up and jumped into an open parking spot on a trajectory that would take me in front of I didn’t stop) It performed admirably. The safety driver didn’t see me coming but the computer did. The car decelerated to the point it would be able to stop if I kept coming. The safety driver couldn’t fi…

Contrast this to the catastrophic self driving test Uber did on the streets of San Francisco before their cars got thrown out of California.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#89

Post by noah_buddy »

dymk wrote: post #82
noah_buddy wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps people would "love" that but I have a feeling that the continued retreat from all forms of socialization due to technology is not a good thing by and large for society. I would guess that most people who think they desire this wouldn't even think they desire it in terms of safety but instead in terms of avoiding distraction or awkwardness.

Technology lets me socialize an order of magnitude more than I'd otherwise. We as a species have never been more connected. If it also gives me respite from having to engage with someone I'd rather not in a car, all the better. Honestly, we could all use a bit more of a break from each other, in my opinion.

Point well taken, I meant physical / proximal socialization. I would contend that most forms of socialization over the internet are lower quality than a candid conversation with a stranger in a car ride.

Re: Cruise is opening driverless cars to the public in San Francisco

#90

Post by belter »

georgeburdell wrote: post #72

I’m concerned about the timing of this. Former CEO Dan Ammann, fired in December, was a big champion of the robotaxi business model. It is speculated he was fired because GM CEO Mary Barra disagrees with this strategy and wants them to focus more on integration with existing GM vehicles. I am afraid that the robotaxi timeline was pulled in so that the rest of the believers inside Cruise can get supporting data to pro…

"Cruise CEO to step down as GM accelerates self-driving car plans"

https://www.engadget.com/cruise-ceo-to-step-down-as-gm-accel...

"GM’s Barra Dismissed Cruise CEO Ammann Over Mission, IPO Timing" https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/rk0v7h/gms_...

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