How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

Post by nradov » Thu, May 30, 2024, 12:09 PM UTC

zellyn wrote: post #107

This seems silly. It’s been obvious even to casual observers like myself for years that Waymo/Google was one of the only groups taking the problem seriously and trying to actually solve it, as opposed to pretending you could add self-driving with just cameras in an over-the-air update (Tesla), or trying to move fast and break things (Uber), or pretending you could gradually improve lane-keeping all the way into auton…

Post by slyall » Thu, May 30, 2024, 12:18 PM UTC

mike_hearn wrote: post #154

slyall wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That "train passing occasionally" holds the equivalent of hundreds of cars. A random crappy light rail line will do the equivalent of 5 lanes of traffic (each direction). A serious subway more like 20. https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/transportation/solu... Even if you run cars with no distance between the bumpers you'll still need room for changing lanes, crossing and the line.

These comparisons are never quite apples-to-apples because the heavy rail line assumes only a few passengers have any luggage and that the entire line is used only for passengers, whereas the capacity rating for a road allows everyone to take large amounts of luggage and freight is always mixed in as well. You also have to take into account all the other factors that make roads preferable, for example, that rail capa…

Post by brandonagr2 » Thu, May 30, 2024, 12:25 PM UTC

nradov wrote: post #191

zellyn wrote: post #107

This seems silly. It’s been obvious even to casual observers like myself for years that Waymo/Google was one of the only groups taking the problem seriously and trying to actually solve it, as opposed to pretending you could add self-driving with just cameras in an over-the-air update (Tesla), or trying to move fast and break things (Uber), or pretending you could gradually improve lane-keeping all the way into auton…

Well Mercedes-Benz apparently has gradually improved lane keeping all the way into autonomous driving. The Drive Pilot system is only at level 3 while Waymo is up at level 4, but consumers can actually buy the Mercedes product today and use it nationwide. It will be interesting to see how far they can push it.

Post by michaelt » Thu, May 30, 2024, 12:28 PM UTC

upwardbound wrote: post #46

jeffbee wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am having trouble imagining this scenario in a way that makes Waymo look as bad as you imply. It sounds like the human-driven vehicle if it was "boxed in" on an on-ramp needed to slow and merge, rather than racing to pass on the right, running off the road, and causing a spectacular single-vehicle wreck. The way it's described in that paragraph seems to be ironclad proof of the need to promptly relieve humans of dr…

It doesn't make the tech look bad, but to me it makes the safety driver & the other executive look callous and uncaring. > They didn’t go back to check on the other driver or to see if anyone else had been hurt They should have made sure the driver was okay.

Post by dageshi » Thu, May 30, 2024, 12:30 PM UTC

nradov wrote: post #194

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to live in China where taxi usage was much more ubiquitous, and…you really live to live in a world where you aren’t expected to live in a car, be it with public transit (Europe, Japan) or public transit + lots of taxis (China) or tuktuks or whatever. But yes, your hobbies tend to be different and adapted, bikes, for example, get you places, and are not taken places, or you get them on the train which actually…

Having to depend on crappy rented sports equipment sounds miserable. Maybe people in the rest of the world will tolerate that but I want no part of it. I'll continue buying my own personal large vehicles so that I can fill them with as much stuff as I want. When I'm out doing something, the car also serves as a reasonably secure private locker where I can store things without carrying them around.