Driverless cars are on their way whether we like it not, but for every safety incident that’s highly publicized, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes to advance the technology into the realm of viability.
Driverless car company Waymo has announced that its new, fifth-generation system for its vehicles is ready for testing and it addresses some big issues, most notably, the ability for the vehicle to spot debris, road signs, and pedestrians from further distances than before.
The system, called Waymo Driver, was developed based on tens of millions of miles of test driving and simulation data. The company is focusing on trying to enhance the vehicle’s ability to react to complex driving environments, and new hardware like 360-degree rooftop lidar will help facilitate that. New Atlas says the sensors will be able to note a car door opening a city block away, and also offers a “much-improved ability to spot objects close by and squeeze through tight spaces in busy areas.”
A fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles will be integrated with the new tech, with the intention of testing them with a human driver behind the wheel. Eventually, Waymo employees will reportedly be able to hail the vehicles and try them out.
And the other key benefit in the quest for viability is that Waymo’s gen five costs about half of what its predecessors did. Waymo says that’s due to a simplified design and manufacturing process.
Source: www.thomasnet.com