Waymo to Revamp Software Following San Francisco Power Outage
WASHINGTON, Dec 23 — Waymo, the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Alphabet, announced on Tuesday its intention to enhance the software utilized in its self-driving cars and to fortify its emergency response strategies.
This decision follows an incident on Saturday in San Francisco, where a significant power outage caused its robotaxis to become immobilized, exacerbating already congested traffic conditions.
The situation escalated after a fire erupted at a PG&E substation, resulting in power disruptions for approximately one-third of the city, impacting around 130,000 residents and compelling numerous businesses to temporarily shutter their doors.
Social media platforms were inundated with video clips depicting Waymo robotaxis stranded at intersections, their hazard lights blinking forlornly as traffic signals fell silent in the wake of the outage.
Waymo clarified that while their self-driving systems are engineered to manage dark traffic signals at four-way intersections, the vehicles occasionally require a confirmation check.
“On Saturday, we successfully navigated over 7,000 dark intersections, yet the outage instigated a significant surge in these requests,” Waymo disclosed. “This resulted in a backlog that contributed to delays, further aggravating congestion on already burdened streets.”
The company acknowledged that while the confirmation protocols were pertinent during initial deployments, they are now in the process of fine-tuning these measures to align with the current operational scale.
Waymo plans to roll out comprehensive updates for its fleet, equipping vehicles with contextual awareness of power outages to facilitate more resolute navigation.
Additionally, Waymo committed to refining its emergency response protocols, extracting valuable insights from this incident.
With an operational fleet exceeding 2,500 vehicles across various locations, including the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Metro Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta, Waymo reinstated its ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday.
On the following Monday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced its intention to investigate the issue concerning the immobilized Waymo vehicles.
The CPUC, in conjunction with California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, oversees the regulation and issuance of permits for the testing and commercial deployment of autonomous taxis.
Earlier in the month, Waymo had issued a recall to update the software of its self-driving fleets after Texas officials reported instances where the vehicles unlawfully passed school buses at least 19 times since the academic year commenced. This prompted an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that began in October.
Source link: Channelnewsasia.com.
