Why do you need anything beyond “riding a virtual track”, though? The point of a car is to go from A to B, and a track is literally the most effective way to do that (which is why we need more trains in the first place, but that’s an entirely separate rant I could go on about).
IMO, at a certain point you reach a level of autonomy that is sufficient enough. It doesn’t need to know every nook and cranny of obscure roads because realistically, nobody’s going there to begin with. And even then in those situations where you did need to go to a location that wasn’t pre-mapped, it’s still likely to get you 99.9% of the way to your destination, anyway. Waymos are also constantly scanning and remapping their surroundings in real time (to adjust for things like road work, detours, and other blockages), so it stands to reason that if you had to manually engage the car after reaching the end of its mapped area, it would eventually develop a map of the new areas with a high-enough level of confidence to navigate on its own, over time.
I also think you have the wrong takeaway regarding the remote dispatchers being required. I think it’s a good thing that they exist, because that means that Waymo doesn’t trust their own machines to be 100% accurate. Tesla incorrectly does, which is why their self-driving cars have an exponentially higher rate of at-fault collisions than any of their competitors. Waymo at least understands the realistic limitations of their tech, and has a safety net in place for when those limitations are reached. I think that’s the correct way to do it, as you lead up toward an actual finished product.
Why do you need anything beyond “riding a virtual track”, though? The point of a car is to go from A to B, and a track is literally the most effective way to do that (which is why we need more trains in the first place, but that’s an entirely separate rant I could go on about).
I don’t… but if we have not truly automated literal tracks (trains), I have very little trust in the virtual version being “ready”
IMO, at a certain point you reach a level of autonomy that is sufficient enough.
Agreed, and to me, that means ZERO human intervention (at least to be able to call it “fully autonomous”). The only appropriate intervention is when the car detects it is breaking down and must stop and wait for a tow truck
It doesn’t need to know every nook and cranny of obscure roads because realistically, nobody’s going there to begin with
And I think here is the gist… I do not want or care for robotaxis in my city. That is just the same bullshit with more steps to continue down the line of unwalkable cities where you depend on a car (which is now a rent seeking service). I want truly fully autonomous driving so eventually we can get to the point where a fleet of truly autonomous cars covers the last mile where mass public transit cannot. Therefore, I do need tech that can navigate low traffic neighborhoods, not just go around downtown
Waymo at least understands the realistic limitations of their tech
If they did, they wouldn’t call their tech “Fully autonomous”… I mean, come on, why do you still fight for the lies they try to feed you. It’s the same everywhere, with food “added vitamins” without telling you their processing took out so many nutrients you are basically eating air even with the “added vitamins”
If Waymo had called their tech “minimally assisted driving” I would have the respect for them you seek from me
Why do you need anything beyond “riding a virtual track”, though? The point of a car is to go from A to B, and a track is literally the most effective way to do that (which is why we need more trains in the first place, but that’s an entirely separate rant I could go on about).
IMO, at a certain point you reach a level of autonomy that is sufficient enough. It doesn’t need to know every nook and cranny of obscure roads because realistically, nobody’s going there to begin with. And even then in those situations where you did need to go to a location that wasn’t pre-mapped, it’s still likely to get you 99.9% of the way to your destination, anyway. Waymos are also constantly scanning and remapping their surroundings in real time (to adjust for things like road work, detours, and other blockages), so it stands to reason that if you had to manually engage the car after reaching the end of its mapped area, it would eventually develop a map of the new areas with a high-enough level of confidence to navigate on its own, over time.
I also think you have the wrong takeaway regarding the remote dispatchers being required. I think it’s a good thing that they exist, because that means that Waymo doesn’t trust their own machines to be 100% accurate. Tesla incorrectly does, which is why their self-driving cars have an exponentially higher rate of at-fault collisions than any of their competitors. Waymo at least understands the realistic limitations of their tech, and has a safety net in place for when those limitations are reached. I think that’s the correct way to do it, as you lead up toward an actual finished product.
I don’t… but if we have not truly automated literal tracks (trains), I have very little trust in the virtual version being “ready”
Agreed, and to me, that means ZERO human intervention (at least to be able to call it “fully autonomous”). The only appropriate intervention is when the car detects it is breaking down and must stop and wait for a tow truck
And I think here is the gist… I do not want or care for robotaxis in my city. That is just the same bullshit with more steps to continue down the line of unwalkable cities where you depend on a car (which is now a rent seeking service). I want truly fully autonomous driving so eventually we can get to the point where a fleet of truly autonomous cars covers the last mile where mass public transit cannot. Therefore, I do need tech that can navigate low traffic neighborhoods, not just go around downtown
If they did, they wouldn’t call their tech “Fully autonomous”… I mean, come on, why do you still fight for the lies they try to feed you. It’s the same everywhere, with food “added vitamins” without telling you their processing took out so many nutrients you are basically eating air even with the “added vitamins”
If Waymo had called their tech “minimally assisted driving” I would have the respect for them you seek from me