Waymo turns its driverless cars into roving weather stations

Self-driving taxi operator Waymo might have a way of getting around its vehicles' problems operating in foggy San Francisco: by turning each into a roving weather station that can adapt to the conditions. From a hardware perspective, it appears to be a simple trick, Waymo said in a blog post. Its current hardware – cameras, …

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't understand

I thought one major feature of radar is that it can see through fog, whilst human drivers are limited by their eyes. So I'd have thought a Waymo could drive at least as well as a human in fog. Humans do have ears as well, but Waymo could have some if they help. So why are Waymos restricted?

I remember walking in front of my friend's car one night when it was very foggy, to make sure we got home safely. Maybe a Waymo could fly a drone out front?

[DS999]

Re: I don't understand

Radar can't tell what color a traffic light is, for instance, so it isn't sufficient for safe driving in low visibility.

[EricB123]

Re: I don't understand

Dull thud, pedestrian struck. Sharp metallic sound, car/ motorcycle crash. So what's the problem?

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Redefining success

Self-driving cars didn't work out but we have billions of dollars of on-the-scene weather reporters now. Can they operate SF's parking meters while they're collecting fog?

[John Brown (no body)]

Talk about over complicating things!!!

Cameras to count to rain drops on the windscreen? WTF??

All they need to do is hang a bit of seaweed out the drivers(less) side window!

Of course, being driverless, they'd then need a robot arm to wind the window down and bring the seaweed inside and drop it on a moisture sensor to see if it's wet and then hang it back out again afterwards. This method has worked for centuries, so I guess it can't be patented.

[LionelB]

Re: Talk about over complicating things!!!

A styrofoam cup might be even simpler.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Talk about over complicating things!!!

Maybe, but there's no weather forecasting tradition for styrofoam cups and you'll outrage the Greens :-)

[Cuddles]

Re: Talk about over complicating things!!!

The standard rain gauge for meteorology is literally just a cup that is checked and emptied every few minutes. Not necessarily styrofoam, but the vast majority are some kind of plastic. Tools for measuring other aspects of weather have come and gone as technology has changed, but you'll struggle to find a weather measuring tool more traditional than simply checking how full a cup is.

[vtcodger]

Simplifying assumptions

This being San Francisco couldn't they just assume either fog or drizzle and deal with exceptional conditions like sunshine later?