Waymo | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Tue, 10 Jan 2017 12:13:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Waymo | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Alphabet’s Waymo LIDAR investment drops costs by 90 per cent https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/alphabets-waymo-lidar-investment-drops-costs-by-90-per-cent/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/alphabets-waymo-lidar-investment-drops-costs-by-90-per-cent/#respond Tue, 10 Jan 2017 12:13:58 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=317043 Waymo, the automated car development branch of Google parent company, Alphabet, is set to drop the cost of producing LIDAR sensor technology by as much as 90 per cent. That could help hurdle one of the biggest stumbling blocks on the road to getting automated cars on public road ways. As much as there are a …

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Waymo, the automated car development branch of Google parent company, Alphabet, is set to drop the cost of producing LIDAR sensor technology by as much as 90 per cent. That could help hurdle one of the biggest stumbling blocks on the road to getting automated cars on public road ways.

As much as there are a lot of benefits of driverless vehicles – from less fatal accidents, to improved efficiency – cost is a real factor. There's not much point in cars being able to drive themselves, if they are far more expensive than human driven versions. Looking to alleviate that issue, Waymo's research into LIDAR technology has brought its associated costs down by as much as 90 per cent.

LIDAR is essentially a laser radar system and helps the on board AI understand its environment by giving it accurate information on where things are and how far away they are. The sensor sits atop most driverless cars and spins around, firing off lasers and recording the time it takes for them to bounce back – or not. When combined with traditional cameras and other sensors, it helps automated vehicles get a pretty good idea of the world around them.

waymolidar

These sensor suites were traditionally rather expensive though. The first Waymo (then operating under the Google banner) automated vehicle was a Prius and used over $150,000 worth of sensor equipment just to understand its local environment. As Ars explains, the biggest investment was the $75,000 LIDAR sensor used on the roof. While such a sensor is still present on Waymo's new Chrysler prototypes, it cost around 10 per cent of what it did several years ago.

It's not exactly clear how Waymo has achieved this, as it claims to still have a high-quality bar with its LIDAR sensors. Other companies cutting the costs of their own LIDAR have done so mostly by reducing the number of lasers it uses. The downside there is that it leads to a lower quality image.

Waymo has said that it has put a lot of time and resources into developing better LIDAR software however, so it could be that in reducing the hardware requirements for its LIDAR system it can reduce costs, but make up the quality with clever software in the back-end.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While I think a lot of people will need a cooler looking car than Waymo's pods, bringing down the costs should go a long way to helping more companies get on board with the impending driverless revolution.

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Waymo is in talks with Honda for driverles car collaboration https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/waymo-is-in-talks-with-honda-for-driverles-car-collaboration/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/waymo-is-in-talks-with-honda-for-driverles-car-collaboration/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:14:41 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=315428 It turns our rumours of Google's automated-driving division were half true. While it's not scaling back, it is teaming up with a traditional auto-maker. Waymo, as the division is now called, is currently said to be in formal talks with Honda, to collaborate on driverless car development. Announced as a pre-cursor to a potential partnership, …

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It turns our rumours of Google's automated-driving division were half true. While it's not scaling back, it is teaming up with a traditional auto-maker. Waymo, as the division is now called, is currently said to be in formal talks with Honda, to collaborate on driverless car development.

Announced as a pre-cursor to a potential partnership, Honda and Waymo's talks could lead to joint car projects between the firms in the future. Although Google has gone it alone for many years with its project, many other tech firms like Baidu, have partnered with more traditional auto-makers (in that case, BMW) to create joint ventures in the field.

This isn't too surprising, as the creation of automated vehicles is a blending of two industries: the traditional, automotive one with all of its physical developments in terms of safety, performance and efficiency, and the technological one, with all of the advances in processing capabilities, sensors and inter-connectivity.

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Honda said in a statement that if the deal goes ahead, it would “allow Honda R&D to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to market,” (as per TechCrunch). Honda has previously promised to bring driverless cars to its customers by 2020, but whether this news will accelerate that remains to be seen.

It may be that like some of the Lexus and Chrysler vehicles Waymo has incorporated its driverless technology in, that we may simply see Waymo tech installed in Honda cars too. Honda does have its own developments though, so an amalgamation of the two technologies could be an interesting outcome.

It seems likely however, that Waymo won't tie itself down to a single automaker. There are too many potential partners out there for it to consider doing that.

KitGuru Says: I say bring on the automation. I can't stand sitting in traffic and I live in a relatively rural area. Leave the fast lane for those with nice cars who enjoy driving on the weekend. For daily commutes, I'll take my own micro-bus to work while I have a nap. 

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Google car rebranded as Waymo, still very much alive https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/google-car-rebranded-as-waymo-still-very-much-alive/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/google-car-rebranded-as-waymo-still-very-much-alive/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2016 12:28:48 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=314611 Google's car project is not being scaled back as was rumored, but has instead been rebranded as Waymo and will now operate under the Alphabet brand, much like many other Google projects which aren't search or advertising related. Doubling down on its efforts, Waymo will soon be adding a further 100 autonomous vehicles to its test fleet, …

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Google's car project is not being scaled back as was rumored, but has instead been rebranded as Waymo and will now operate under the Alphabet brand, much like many other Google projects which aren't search or advertising related. Doubling down on its efforts, Waymo will soon be adding a further 100 autonomous vehicles to its test fleet, which drives public roads every day.

The Google Autonomous Car project has suffered a little in the eyes of the public as of late. Although an early innovator in the field, many have come to believe that despite driving two million miles without anyone behind the wheel, the Google cars had fallen behind the competition. With companies like Tesla enabling hands free driving on motorways with mostly positive results, it was thought that Google may need to partner with a traditional automaker to compete.

waymo

However spinning off the development into its own brand and own company seems like a real vote of confidence from Alphabet. Indeed along with the announcement of the new company it slated more than 100 autonomous minivans for public road testing in 2017.

The technology continues to improve too. With sensors capable of detecting everything from pets to pedestrians and other road users, be they lorries or cyclists, Waymo hopes to make the roads safer than ever before. Its newly revamped website cites 94 percent of all accidents being caused by driver error. Autonomous vehicles could help put a stop to that for good.

[yframe url='http://youtu.be/uHbMt6WDhQ8′]

As the highlight video showcases too, people with visual impairments or physical limitations would benefit hugely from self driving vehicles. As would those under age, or parents who can have more interaction with their children rather than having to focus on the road ahead.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While there will always be those who want to drive for pleasure, for everyone else autonomous vehicles hold the key to delivering us from crashes, traffic jams and stressing over finding parking. I cant' wait. 

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