4 ms·

Is there a mechanism for road construction crews to mark a section of road for construction, and expose that publicly for autonomous vehicles to consume? The vi

Is there a mechanism for road construction crews to mark a section of road for construction, and expose that publicly for autonomous vehicles to consume? The video alludes to the Waymo staff manually patrolling the area and marking construction zones.

aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA 5y ago
That’s an interesting idea. I wonder how much they rely on Waze data currently.
throwawayboise 5y ago
In my area, planned road closures and maintenance are published in the paper. I'm not sure there's a "standard" way this would get to an AV, e.g. a public API with a specific protocol for this sort of thing. Maybe it can tap into Waze info somehow? And in case of disabled vehicles, accident cleanup, or other unplanned lane closures, sometimes the cones are just set out and you don't know anything about it in advance.
astrange 5y ago
Important ones are surfaced in Google Maps/Waze through user reports, various different government data feeds, and whatever TomTom does. Not all of them are important though.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Animats 5y ago
The traffic cone setup is ambiguous. There's a line of traffic cones between two lanes, but nothing indicates which lane is supposed to be closed. This is an OSHA violation by the construction workers. "When redirection of the road users’ normal path is required, they shall be channelized from the normal path to a new path."[1] There's supposed to be a diagonal line of cones across the closed lane to channel traffic away from the closed lane. See the drawings in [1]. Stopping was a good move. [1] https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fy10_sh-21004-10_wztc_refguide.pdf https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fy10_sh-210...
- ec109685 5y ago
  No human driver would need to have stopped in a lane of traffic like the Waymo vehicle and would have figured out how to navigate the cones.
- ggoo 5y ago
  > Stopping was a good move. It caused other drivers to make illegal moves to get around, this just isn't true.
- jjav 5y ago
  > The traffic cone setup is ambiguous. Even if it was, no other driver in the video had any trouble driving there. Self-driving cars, if it is ever to be viable, need to adjust to the world as it is.
  - Animats 5y ago
    If you watched that setup for a few hours, you'd probably see a few human-driven vehicles in the wrong lane. Like this one.[1] [1] https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4133828946705341&id=140549396033336 https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4133828946...
imroot 5y ago
There is a standard for the various road conditions that are out there -- the MUTCD ("Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices") -- and there's a fairly large chapter on temporary lane closure/construction zones. This setup wasn't completely MUTCD compliant, but, there are also some states with their own, state-specific editions of the MUTCD.
dbuder 5y ago
Yes, but your local government struggles with technology and has the flag active when it shouldn't be and absent when it should be.
AlotOfReading 5y ago
Arizona DOT publishes this data and it sometimes contains this information in at least text form. I'm almost certain Google parses that for maps, but I doubt Waymo uses it for much more than graylist avoidance areas and prioritizing where they'll send mapping cars, if even that. The data simply isn't detailed or reliable enough to use directly.

aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA 5y ago

That’s an interesting idea. I wonder how much they rely on Waze data currently.

throwawayboise 5y ago

In my area, planned road closures and maintenance are published in the paper. I'm not sure there's a "standard" way this would get to an AV, e.g. a public API with a specific protocol for this sort of thing. Maybe it can tap into Waze info somehow? And in case of disabled vehicles, accident cleanup, or other unplanned lane closures, sometimes the cones are just set out and you don't know anything about it in advance.

astrange 5y ago

Important ones are surfaced in Google Maps/Waze through user reports, various different government data feeds, and whatever TomTom does. Not all of them are important though.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Animats 5y ago

The traffic cone setup is ambiguous. There's a line of traffic cones between two lanes, but nothing indicates which lane is supposed to be closed. This is an OSHA violation by the construction workers. "When redirection of the road users’ normal path is required, they shall be channelized from the normal path to a new path."[1] There's supposed to be a diagonal line of cones across the closed lane to channel traffic away from the closed lane. See the drawings in [1]. Stopping was a good move. [1] https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fy10_sh-21004-10_wztc_refguide.pdf https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fy10_sh-210...

ec109685 5y ago
No human driver would need to have stopped in a lane of traffic like the Waymo vehicle and would have figured out how to navigate the cones.
ggoo 5y ago
> Stopping was a good move. It caused other drivers to make illegal moves to get around, this just isn't true.
jjav 5y ago
> The traffic cone setup is ambiguous. Even if it was, no other driver in the video had any trouble driving there. Self-driving cars, if it is ever to be viable, need to adjust to the world as it is.
- Animats 5y ago
  If you watched that setup for a few hours, you'd probably see a few human-driven vehicles in the wrong lane. Like this one.[1] [1] https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4133828946705341&id=140549396033336 https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4133828946...

imroot 5y ago

There is a standard for the various road conditions that are out there -- the MUTCD ("Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices") -- and there's a fairly large chapter on temporary lane closure/construction zones. This setup wasn't completely MUTCD compliant, but, there are also some states with their own, state-specific editions of the MUTCD.

dbuder 5y ago

Yes, but your local government struggles with technology and has the flag active when it shouldn't be and absent when it should be.

AlotOfReading 5y ago

Arizona DOT publishes this data and it sometimes contains this information in at least text form. I'm almost certain Google parses that for maps, but I doubt Waymo uses it for much more than graylist avoidance areas and prioritizing where they'll send mapping cars, if even that. The data simply isn't detailed or reliable enough to use directly.