3 ms·

Waymo has taken a responsible approach to self-driving (level 5 only, Lidar) over Tesla's collateral reduction approach. Lidar gives you exact distance to obsta

by screye 5y ago

Waymo has taken a responsible approach to self-driving (level 5 only, Lidar) over Tesla's collateral reduction approach. Lidar gives you exact distance to obstacles around it. Given those 2 factors, I expect Waymo to have an inbuilt hard-stop for when it is on collision course inside of braking distance. I expect it to be friendlier to bikers and pedestrians than human drivers. As a biker, most of close calls are due to impatient drivers who try to overtake me through close calls and when they enter turns without looking first. AFAIK, Self-driving cars do not initiate same-lane overtakes and can be hardcoded to be paragons of patience. With how hostile American drivers are towards bikers, self-driving cars would need Skynet-esque malice towards us to match those injury rates.

tigershark 5y ago
Waymo is level 4, not level 5, and if I remember correctly the CEO said that it won’t be level 5 for decades.
- me_me_me 5y ago
  Thats a refreshingly honest statement, especially contrasted with claims by Musk that Tesla Lvl 5 will be easy to do and available to purchase by 2020.
drcode 5y ago
It can't have a total "hard-stop" because otherwise it would break hard for a paper bag or some exhaust smoke.
- screye 5y ago
  Does exhaust smoke consistently reflect lasers ? In my experience, a dense lidar will see a subset of the lasers go through such occlusions and get a 2nd return from the truly opaque object behind the smoke. LIDAR can usually distinguish translucent smoke from solid objects like bikes/pedestrians even before the ML algorithm kicks in. Paper bags are tricky, because a bag on the ground could just as likely be a solid object that the car should be stopping for. Stopping or slowing down for bags may be a good idea.
- harambae 5y ago
  > break hard for a paper bag This is why you have radar as well. The paper bag absorbs minimal energy and you roll through it. (also it's "brake")
jeff_carr 5y ago
For readers that have not watched the TED talk about Google's self driving cars (now Waymo): https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_... It's worth noting that TED talk is from 7 years ago and it's still much better than what a modern Tesla appears to be able to determine.

by screye 5y ago

tigershark 5y ago

Waymo is level 4, not level 5, and if I remember correctly the CEO said that it won’t be level 5 for decades.

me_me_me 5y ago
Thats a refreshingly honest statement, especially contrasted with claims by Musk that Tesla Lvl 5 will be easy to do and available to purchase by 2020.

drcode 5y ago

It can't have a total "hard-stop" because otherwise it would break hard for a paper bag or some exhaust smoke.

screye 5y ago
Does exhaust smoke consistently reflect lasers ? In my experience, a dense lidar will see a subset of the lasers go through such occlusions and get a 2nd return from the truly opaque object behind the smoke. LIDAR can usually distinguish translucent smoke from solid objects like bikes/pedestrians even before the ML algorithm kicks in. Paper bags are tricky, because a bag on the ground could just as likely be a solid object that the car should be stopping for. Stopping or slowing down for bags may be a good idea.
harambae 5y ago
> break hard for a paper bag This is why you have radar as well. The paper bag absorbs minimal energy and you roll through it. (also it's "brake")

jeff_carr 5y ago

For readers that have not watched the TED talk about Google's self driving cars (now Waymo): https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_... It's worth noting that TED talk is from 7 years ago and it's still much better than what a modern Tesla appears to be able to determine.