Waymo LLC is an American autonomous driving technology development company. It is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google. Waymo operates a commercial self-driving taxi service in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area called “Waymo One”, with Chandler, Arizona fully mapped
The company said that starting on October 8, 2020, members of its Waymo One service would be able to take family and friends along on their fully driverless rides in the Phoenix area. Existing Waymo One members have had the first access to the driverless rides — terminology that means no human behind the wheel. However, the company said that in the next several weeks more people would be welcomed directly into the service through its app, which is available on Google Play and the App Store.
Waymo said that 100% of its rides would be fully driverless — which it has deemed its “rider only” mode. That 100% claim requires a bit of unpacking. The public shouldn’t expect hundreds of Waymo-branded Chrysler Pacifica minivans — no human behind the wheel — to suddenly inundate the entire 600-plus square miles of the greater Phoenix area.
Waymo’s move comes after nearly a decade of development, more than a billion dollars in investment and 10 million miles of testing on public roads. The project was embraced by top state and local officials even as questions have been raised here and elsewhere about the speed of the technology’s rollout.
Waymo has about 600 vehicles in its fleet. About 300 to 400 of those are in the Phoenix area. Waymo wouldn’t share exact numbers of how many of these vehicles would be dedicated to driverless rides.
How the Waymo Driver works:
- Multilayered suite of sensors. Waymo’s cameras, lidar, and radar work together so the Waymo Driver can see up to three football fields away in all directions, day and night. Safety is Waymo top priority, so the Waymo Driver is trained and tested to carefully navigate in all driving situations and get you to your destination, stress free.
- Backed by real-world experience. The Waymo Driver has driven millions of miles over the past 12 years in all sorts of conditions. That’s on top of the billions of miles the company has driven in simulation.
According to techcrunch.com; gadgets.ndtv.com.; play.google.com. Source of photos: internet
