Uber Self-Driving Cars Back On Public Roads, But In Manual Mode

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Uber is putting its autonomous vehicles back on Pittsburgh's city streets, four months after a fatal accident involving one of its self-driving cars prompted the ride-hailing company to halt testing on public roads. But for now, Uber's modified self-driving Volvo XC90 vehicles will only be driven manually by humans and under a new set of safety standards that includes real-time monitoring of its test drivers and efforts to beef up simulation. The sensors, including light detection and ranging radar known as LiDAR, will be operational on these self-driving vehicles. They won't be operated in autonomous mode, however. Uber will use these manually operated self-driving vehicles to update its HD maps of Pittsburgh. This manual-first rollout is a step toward Uber's ultimate goal to relaunch its autonomous vehicle testing program in Pittsburgh, according to Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies Group, who published a post Tuesday on Medium. Uber said that all its self-driving vehicles, whether they're driven manually or eventually in autonomous mode, will have two Uber employees inside. "These 'mission specialists' -- a new name Uber has given to its test drivers -- will have specific jobs," reports TechCrunch. "The person behind the wheel will be responsible for maintaining the vehicle safety, while the second 'mission specialist' will ride shotgun and document events." Every vehicle will also have a driver monitoring system that will track driver behavior in real time.

wow progress

[Anonymous Coward]

the amazing self driving manual car also

the worlds shortest giant, also

the worlds tallest dwarf

step right up

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[godel_56]

Even better than that, a self-driving car that requires 2, count them two drivers, ie more than a non self-driving car!

For safety reasons one passenger periodically has to get out of the car and walk in front waving a red flag.

You're going the wrong way

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> self-driving vehicles, whether they're driven manually or eventually in autonomous mode, will have two Uber employees inside

Um...you're going the wrong way. I want my "self-driving car" to have ZERO passenger-recording Uber employees inside.

Self driving ... with two drivers?

[Hognoxious]

One of them is there to smack the other if he touches the controls. The second one is there to suck the first one's cock.

(I think the original joke involved a dog).

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[drinkypoo]

The Japanese have already got there, but unfortunately they put tits on top of it and the sheer creepiness of that puts me off my nut.

Frnds Don't Let Frnds Txt N Drv

[DickBreath]

Friends don't let friends text and drive.

A good friend will hold the wheel so the driver can focus on what is important -- their phone. But your honor, I wasn't texting and driving, I was playing with my tweeter.

I suppose the same holds true for UBER Mission Specialists. Mission Specialists don't let mission specialists watch movies and drive. A good mission specialist, especially employed by UBER, would hold the wheel for the driver so they can also eat their popcorn while watching the movie on th

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[Joe_Dragon]

Let's see
Pay min wage to $10/hr
BA/BS degree required
Lot's of nights and weekends required

two people are needed in self mode any ways

[Joe_Dragon]

two people are needed in self mode any ways for now.

One for driving part and the other to look over the systems.

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[xxxJonBoyxxx]

...and soon, a third to remind the other two to put down their phones for a while and do their jobs.

And the fourth

[DrYak]

...and soon, a third...

And the fourth's job will eventually devolve into put the light show/VJ-aying for the crazy party music playlist that the third is DJ-aying over the car's sound system.

What? What do you mean "where does the client who hired the ride actually go" ?
Oh, if it's one of those small european cars that can only seat 2 com fortably in the back, then I guess you'll have to put the Uber client in the trunk or on the roof's ski case...
Or he can be busy waving the red flag in front of the Uber party car.

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[viperidaenz]

or "a system that detects hazards ahead of the vehicle and continues to mow down the offending jaywalker"

fucking Uber

[SumDog]

Uber is a shit company. They're using marketing speak for their now "sensor/data gathering" cars. I hope no city lets them put an autonomous car back on the road. Fuck Uber and their toxic company.

Precision, please, people

[El Cubano]

light detection and ranging radar known as LiDAR

LiDAR (or LIDAR, or lidar, etc.) = light detection and ranging

RADAR (or radar) = radio detection and ranging

"light detection and ranging radar" is not a thing.

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[omnichad]

Now just because light is in the terahertz range does not mean it's not radio. You just need a very directional receiver.

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[El Cubano]

Now just because light is in the terahertz range does not mean it's not radio.

I am not arguing that light is not radio. I am saying that "light detection and ranging radar" is not a thing, just like "American League NL" would be meaningless in the context of baseball. There is an American League (AL) and a National League (NL), but concatenating the two would be nonsensical.

"Mission Specialists"

[viperidaenz]

They should give them a more accurate name, like "Pedestrian killers" or something.

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[PPH]

I think that's what 'riding shotgun' means. Perhaps literally.

death race uber!

[Joe_Dragon]

With 360 live point tracking.

1:1 employee to manager ratio...nice

[edi_guy]

Because the Uber person in the Arizona accident was texting, they are now seating managers next to the driver. Driver monitors computer, manager monitors driving who is monitoring computer. I think the two back seats could be used for a Director and a person with a VP title at which point the fiasco will be complete.

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[account_deleted]

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[account_deleted]

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[account_deleted]

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[ShanghaiBill]

There was nothing preventing those drunks from calling a taxi company.

... except that the taxi costs more, takes longer to arrive, is less convenient, and may not come at all if either you or your destination are in the wrong neighborhood.

Uber/Lyft ridership tends to increase at three times the rate that taxi ridership falls. That clearly implies that most people don't see them as interchangeable.

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[account_deleted]

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[account_deleted]

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Nice!

[nospam007]

My 'self-driving' car has been in manual mode for decades, it seems to drive itself only when I'm drunk as a skunk, at least that's what I think, since I can't remember driving home.

Used to be "Command Mode," ...

[CaptainDork]

... but people shortened that to "commode."

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[ShanghaiBill]

Human driven vehicles kill 3000 people per day worldwide. If we are truly concerned about saving lives, then instead of focusing on a single jaywalker in Phoenix, we should be looking at the big picture and pushing forward with SDCs as quickly as possible.

Tempe Police are corrupt

[cpm99352]

Please don't forget that the Tempe Police Dept. immediately [businessinsider.com] placed all blame on the pedestrian. We now know that the Uber car know of the obstruction and had enough braking time to have reduced it to a non-fatal accident.

Please remember the faked darkened [cnet.com] videos, when the street was well lit.

I have no idea what is happening in this accident [azcentral.com] in Tempe... Any locals have a clue?

This is probably how it went down...

[twebb72]

Developer: We've just completed QA on this new feature -- autonomous Uber in manual mode
Manager: Brilliant! We just need another 8bn round of funding and we can deploy manual mode to Pittsburg!

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[twebb72]

The Uber manager also doesn't know how to spell Pittsburgh