GM-owned Self-driving car company Cruise has provided new details on how often human “remote assistants” help their autonomous vehicles navigate tricky urban driving situations.
CNBC reports that Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt recently confirmed that the company’s self-driving cars are remotely assisted by humans two to four percent of the time on average when operating in complex city environments. In terms of how far robotaxis drive, remote assistance sessions are initiated approximately every four to five miles.
Many sessions are short requests for confirmation before the car proceeds, Vogt explained. The autonomous vehicle often initiates the call itself before needing help, such as when its path is obstructed. In a number of cases, the issue is resolved by the self-driving car before the human advisor even examines the situation.
Cruise Robotaxis in a garage (Anadolu Agency / Contributor/Getty)
Vogt stated: “Cruise AVs are being remotely assisted (RA) 2-4 percent of the time on average, in complex urban environments. This is low enough already that there isn’t a huge cost benefit to optimizing much further, especially given how useful it is to have humans review things in certain situations.”
According to a Cruise spokesperson, during driverless testing there was one remote assistant for every 15-20 autonomous vehicles on the road. The remote advisors give “wayfinding guidance” to help the vehicles navigate difficult scenarios, but do not actively control or drive the cars.
Cruise says its remote assistants go through comprehensive training and ongoing performance reviews to ensure safety. The company has lost approximately $1.9 billion so far this year as it continues to develop and validate its self-driving technology.
Breitbart News recently reported on Cruise trying to control the damage of its recent nationwide suspension of robotaxi operations:
Cruise and its CEO, Kyle Vogt, are facing criticism for prioritizing growth over safety. “Kyle is a guy who is willing to take risks, and he is willing to move quickly. He is very Silicon Valley,” said Matthew Wansley, a law professor at Cardozo School of Law.
Under Vogt’s leadership, Cruise rapidly expanded its driverless robotaxi service despite collisions and traffic snarls involving its robot cars over the past year. But the recent fatality has led to internal investigations and growing doubts about Cruise’s safety culture.
During a companywide meeting on Monday regarding its suspended operations, Vogt informed employees that he was unsure when they could resume work and that there could be potential layoffs. This information was relayed by two employees who were present at the meeting.
According to employees, he recognized that Cruise had lost the confidence of the public and outlined a course of action to regain it by being more transparent and prioritizing safety. He appointed Louise Zhang, the company’s interim chief safety officer, and declared that she would report directly to him.
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