L'observatoire Data & Créativité by iligo | The comeback of Uber self-driving cars

The comeback of Uber self-driving cars

Uber is an American company that provides services by linking consumers to drivers for transportation. Its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) department mission’s, which is based in Pittsburgh, is to bring safe, reliable self-driving transportation to everyone, everywhere.

Uber ATG wants to develop its services by providing self-driving vehicles.
First tested in 2018 with its partner Volvo and its car XC90, the company scaled back its testing program following a fatal crash accident.
2 years later, the Californian department of motor vehicles, took the decision to authorize the company to put its autonomous vehicles on public roads again, permitting Uber to test its technologies with Volvo XC90 vehicles in Dallas, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington DC.
The self-driving cars will cruise city streets during daylight hours, each staffed by two front-seat safety drivers.

To test its self-driving solution, Uber uses vehicles known for strong safety track record. It was then modify by integrating sensors and software that help support the self-driving system to adapt it.
The company implemented modifications in order to improve detection and tracking of pedestrians as well as cyclists.
It also enabled simultaneous operation of cars’ emergency braking systems with its self-driving technology.
An independent panel charged with suggesting changes to its self-driving program and operational safety and systems engineering and testing teams has also been established.

By combining hardware and software technologies into a new type of rider experience never seen before, the company tries to develop its innovative solution.
The present software interprets the world around the vehicle, predicts what actors will do next, and plans a way to safely navigate on-road. By using data, the company can create a safe model to know how self-driving systems will interact with the different types of environment.
Tested on private roads, every stage of development will be first validated before being operating on public roads. By testing the system and by providing data, it allows the technology to make up, ensuring that the vehicles are ready to be deployed to the real world.