Accidents will happen

This is an important thing. Accidents WILL happen with new technology, that's no doubt. But it's important to note that this was a collision with a bicycle.

I have searched for the reference regarding the abilities of MicroVision's LiDAR -- but among them mentioned specifically is the ability to recognize things like bicycles & being able to distinguish the difference between objects of roughly the same size -- such as the difference between a brick and a cat.

Dense point cloud, and lasers on multiple wavelengths are feature that can benefit this ability.

They do not operate in isolation, however. There is a lot of software that has to be developed and tested and 

ABC 15 Arizona

TEMPE, Ariz. - Tempe, Arizona police are investigating a deadly crash involving a self-driving Uber vehicle early Monday morning.

The Uber vehicle was reportedly headed northbound when a woman walking outside of the crosswalk was struck.

Tempe Police says the vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash and a vehicle operator was also behind the wheel. No passengers were in the vehicle at the time.

An Uber spokesperson said they are aware of the incident and are cooperating with authorities.

Uber has paused self-driving operations in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto, which is a standard move, the company says.

The investigation is still active.

Uber began testing self-driving cars in Tempe in February 2017. The fleet of self-driving Volvos arrived in Arizona after they were banned from California roads over safety concerns. Gov. Doug Ducey touted Arizona as a testing ground, saying at the time in a written statement, “Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads.”

One of the self-driving cars was involved in a crash a month later, after a car failed to yield to the Uber vehicle and hit it, authorities said. The self-driving SUV rolled onto its side as a result crash.

There were no serious injuries were reported in that crash.

GM Self Driving Car

One use slower than we thought

One faster.

Yahoo News

Detroit (AFP) - Regulators will "carefully and responsibly" review General Motors' request to test an autonomous car without a steering wheel, US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said Sunday.

"It is now coming to the stage with the rapid advancement of self-driving technology that this request is now a reality," Chao said on the sidelines of the Detroit Auto Show.

"So we will view the petition carefully and responsibly."​

GM on Friday unveiled the Cruise AV, an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, announcing it had asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to exempt it from a number of federal standards that cannot be met with a driverless car.

GM executives have said they planned to introduce a large-scale fleet of self-driving taxis by 2019, a timeframe some analysts consider ambitious.

GM released images of the Cruise AV and video of the interior with a strikingly spacious windshield devoid of a steering wheel.

"It's quite a striking image when people see it for the first time," GM president Dan Ammann told AFP on the sidelines of a GM event Saturday.

"I think people will want to engage with the technology and understand it and experience it," Ammann said.

"But I think what's really most powerful about what the technology can offer is an increase in safety on the road. And once people understand that and see and experience it, we think the adoption will be there."

"Its hard to generalize" about whether the public is ready for autonomous cars, Ammann said. "Some people are more than ready. And other people will be watching and seeing how it evolves."

Self Driving Shuttle

I had a chance to ride a self-driving car a few minutes ago. Very interesting.

It went pretty slow, but followed a course exactly. The onboard attendant (not pictured) seemed to be having a bad night with people badgering him with specific technical questions. (He couldn't answer pretty basic things I asked him. ) The car did come with an X-Box controller, incase there was a more complex decision required (like going around a breakdown. 

The machine was programmed to go around a particular course, and did it very well. It was communicating with the lights so it knew when to stop -- and then proceed. At one intersection, the shuttle started forward at a green light, and someone ran the red. The shuttle stopped perfectly, and proceeded when the thread was gone. 

AAA Self Driving Shuttle

Met this guy on board. 

Arian(sp?) was the greeter on the street.  (hey, free rides in an autonomous shuttle.)

Insight to self-driving cars

Google and Ford aren't really sharing how they design and program their self-driving cars. We can get a little insight here.

For liability reasons, I don't think the full array of sensors will ever not be included. 


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