Waymo updates 3,800 robotaxis after they 'drive into standing water'

It’s a particularly hard problem in Texas. We get torrential rains and the landscape is relatively flat. Couple that with shallow soil over lots of limestone and it means flooding is really common. We also have roads that have a “low water crossing,” where a road crosses a creekbed that is normally dry but which will flood. There are often water depth signs there (basically a vertical ruler with feet marks so you can see where the water is up to). We lose people to this scenario (driving into flood waters) every year. It’s particularly problematic when it’s dark and you miss a warning sign. Before you know it, you’re in deep water and the flow can sweep the whole car downstream until it gets pinned against a tree, possibly with water forcing its way into the car.

Pretty sure the right answer mainly involves the car knowing about the weather and other emergency events.

If they have a laser measurement of the road from before, couldn't they see that the level of water vs the expected road surface?

By a water sensor do you mean a sensor to detect the water level relative to the chassis? It seems like a very inexpensive downward-facing ultrasound sensor could work.

Doesn't Land Rover historically have like a wading sensor?

> frequently

I've never made that mistake; I'm not aware of anyone I know doing it. I very rarely see it myself, except on news footage. Of course it happens some time somewhere but that says nothing about frequency.

> That's a tough problem

Not really. Don't drive where you don't know it's safe. Definitely don't drive into moving water - puddles only, and only if not too deep: I can usually figure it out based on the rest of the road - unless it's a sinkhole, the geometry is somewhat consistent - and especially by looking at objects in the water such as other cars driving through it. Sorry your friend isn't competent to figure it out.

People here are always quick to defend the autonomous cars, like a close friend. How often will we fall in love with a technology or company? It always distorts the truth.

How about a Mastodon, Lamb of God take with Floods of Triton:

  Heap data upon this modern age
  All human drivers now phased away
  A lidar's glow, the soft wheel's echo
  Autonomous force of code remains
  
  We are last of the before rides
  Now hear the robot cars rise
  Hum into eternity
  Remember this, all roadways lead to the fleet

Waymo has LIDAR and cameras, so it is better equipped for every situation.

LIDAR isn't helpful for water. Standing water behaves like a mirror on LIDAR.

They suspended service areas they deem high risk until the software update can be applied. So while, yes, it's just a software update, it's a recall in the sense that they've temporarily pulled all the cars off the road in certain areas

I think so. For some kind of legalese reasons that's generally what a Tesla "recall" amounts to these days.

Yes, this is a common terminology issue. "Recall" is legally defined in terms of the kind of problems that require one, not the solution to those problems, because the relevant regulations were written when there was no way to fix consumer products other than physically delivering them to the manufacturer or an authorized repair person.

Maybe you drive into flood waters, but I don't. That's not a difficult skill to pull off.

We're still in the early days of self driving cars, and as much simulation and miles as they have, they're still constantly getting exposed to real world conditions that are new to them. The world is dynamic, so this will always remain true.

It remains to be seen where we'll converge on capability, incident rate, and acceptance.

We've updated the title above. Thanks!

Also I think it's wrong to call something a recall if it's not owned by customers. Waymo is a service.

The difference between that and usual software updates I'm guessing is the cars are pulled from service until the update takes place.

Recall makes for better headlines.

Gah, thanks for this. Thought I was used to that slight-of-hand but this one got me

aw, I was having fun imagining 3,800 Johnny cabs just immediately changing route to go to headquarters.

If the car drives itself we will have more time to talk to each other in person.

Or invest in public transport instead

Just this morning I was almost killed twice on my bike ride to work by two separate drivers, one of whom looked to be 80 and could barely see over the dashboard, and one who was on their phone. I didn’t even bother trying to remember the plate numbers, knowing that the odds of any kind of consequences are absolute zero. No, we can’t go back to driving our own vehicles. Waymo everywhere and human driving outlawed, ASAP.

> can we just go back to talking to each other in person

He posts on an internet message board

About what