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The last Ars article that I read on Waymo did imply that they had hit a metaphorical wall on their progress, and were keeping things looking good by sticking to
by ufmace 8y ago
The last Ars article that I read on Waymo did imply that they had hit a metaphorical wall on their progress, and were keeping things looking good by sticking to lower-speed residential neighborhoods and avoiding situations they had trouble with, like making unprotected left turns onto major streets and passing slow or stopped vehicles on a busy road. Essentially things that require being able to understand that the other cars around are driven by people who tend to react to things, and will probably slow down if you make a turn into a lane that they would be passing you in.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/02/googles-waymo-risks-repeating-silicon-valleys-most-famous-blunder/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/02/googles-waymo-risks-rep...
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/12/we-finally-talked-to-an-actual-waymo-passenger-heres-what-he-told-us/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/12/we-finally-talked-to-an...
- onlyrealcuzzo 8y agoWhat's the problem? If a a robot can drive a car more statistically more safely than a human, that seems like a net win. Maybe humans shouldn't be making left turns in traffic or passing trucks either. Those are probably, statistically, the most dangerous things you can do when driving. But we do them all the time, because we have no idea how dangerous they really are.
- garmaine 8y agoThe problem is the other car has a human in it, and those situations are ones where the reaction of the other human is critical to safety analysis, but generally unpredictable.
- UncleMeat 8y agoA computer will be able to react to a sudden crazy movement by another driver far better than a human will.
- oflannabhra 8y ago“Will be”? Yep. Given an infinite timescale computers “will be” able to do lots of things better than people, such as navigate rough terrain or open a door. Currently, they can’t do any of that better than humans, and probably not for several years.
- creato 8y agoIt sounded like the post you replied to was referring to emergency maneuvers, and I think automated systems are probably better than humans at some kinds of emergency maneuvers even right now.
- garmaine 8y agoPerforming emergency maneuvers, yes. Predicting the need for emergency maneuvers based on the varied and unpredictable responses of humans in exceptional circumstances, not so much.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- erikpukinskis 8y agoYeah, UPS trucks don't make left turns. Maybe self driving cars can do the same.