Uber is running a trial of its self driving cars

Uber self driving Ford Fusion – in addition to the obvious array of sensors on the roof, notice the much smaller sensor just ahead of the rear tail light cluster
Credit: PC World

While much of the publicity goes to Tesla’s Autopilot, other manufacturers are making a big autonomous vehicle effort too.^1,2 Case in point, Uber has recently introduced its autonomous cars to limited service: a 12-square-mile part of downtown Pittsburgh, & offered only to select Uber clients. Two Uber staff are on board – one behind the wheel, ready to take over driving duties if necessary, & the other monitoring the computer system.

Alex Davies from Wired, booked a ride.



https://www.wired.com/2016/09/self-driving-autonomous-uber-pittsburgh/#slide-8

PC World
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3120356/tech-events-dupe/self-driving-ubers-are-now-arriving-in-pittsburgh.html
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¹ “We have seen the future & it is delightfully dull”, http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2015/03/we-have-seen-future-its-delightfully.html

² “Google's autonomous car had an accident”, http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2016/03/googles-autonomous-car-had-accident.html / take a ride self driving self-driving Uber Pittsburgh Uber ride phone app confirm my location destination request ride robot shows up white Ford Fusion spinning lasers cameras Uber’s latest attempt disrupt transportation pre-selected Uber 12-square-mile downtown Pittsburgh option ride self-driving car human engineer at the wheel take over if necessary Uber become more efficient profitable jettison human drivers majority customers money Uber engineer getting rid of the overhead annual global rate 1.2 million road deaths every year pilot trial Raffi Krikorian Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center Pittsburgh big red button autonomous mode kill switch streams of data laptop fully autonomous cars publicity benefits launching first human backups Uber engineers how non-engineers feel product sensors on the roof developing transparent experience riders information trip vehicle system feel safe and confident Emily Bartel Uber product manager screen when the car’s driving itself your route spinning LIDAR unit on the roof robot car navigates four-way stops traffic light-controlled intersections ride is mostly smooth scattered moments of aggressive acceleration or braking engineer at the wheel takes over control not happy with how long the car is waiting before slowing for a pedestrian manually steers around a double parked truck system will just stop and wait for it to move Uber autonomous cars Carnegie Mellon University Uber partnered autonomous tech Uber poached dozens of researchers challenging test conditions rain and snow tangled grid of narrow streets enthusiastically pro-tech startups autonomous tech taking the wheel full autonomy Uber runs its car only in areas mapped in extreme detail maps provide key context focus on temporary obstacles other cars people human-driven, sensor-laden car software traffic light locations crosswalks speed limits Uber /