Driverless Taxis with Presence in Pa. Recalled
Waymo said the vehicles may slow but continue into standing water on high-speed roads, and it has deployed software updates and interim restrictions.
- Waymo is recalling more than 3,700 robotaxis after an unoccupied vehicle entered a flooded road in San Antonio, Texas, at about 40 mph on April 20, prompting the Alphabet Inc. subsidiary to address a software flaw.
- The software affecting 5th and 6th Generation Automated Driving Systems may allow vehicles to slow and then drive into standing water on high-speed roadways, impacting units produced between March 17, 2022, and April 20, 2026.
- Waymo deployed a software update on April 20 to affected vehicles and implemented an interim remedy including modified operational restrictions in flood-prone areas and updated vehicle maps to increase weather-related constraints.
- Engadget reported this is the second flood-related incident involving a Waymo robotaxi in San Antonio, prompting the company to temporarily pause operations in the region, which it expects to restart this week.
- Waymo continues working with Google DeepMind on advanced simulation tools to test vehicle performance in rare and extreme scenarios, including tornado-like conditions, as the system relies on radar and lidar during reduced visibility.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Waymo’s Self-Driving Car Saw the Flood and Drove In Anyway. Here’s The Problem Plaguing Every Robotaxi. - Yanko Design
Every sensor on a Waymo robotaxi sees the world in layers. The LiDAR maps it in three dimensions, radar bounces through it, and cameras read it in color and contrast, building a composite picture of the road that no human retina could match at the same fidelity. So when a Waymo encountered a flooded section
Waymo, Alphabet's subsidiary, is launching a voluntary recall for 3,791 of its vehicles after a surreal incident in San Antonio, where an autonomous taxi broke into a flooded road. The correction will be done via a remote software update (OTA) aimed at improving the detection of extreme weather conditions and preventing the recurrence of such scenarios.
Autonomous vehicles promise the moon and the stars. But the technology is not yet mature, as evidenced by the recent incident involving a Waymo Robotaxi, swept away by the floodwaters.
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