SHERIDAN, WYOMING – August 20, 2024 – In a significant stride towards a driverless future, Waymo, the autonomous driving technology pioneer, has unveiled its 6th-generation Waymo Driver. This latest iteration of their self-driving system boasts enhanced capabilities, cost efficiency, and resilience to diverse weather conditions, signaling a major advancement in the company's mission to make autonomous transportation safe and accessible.
Building on Success, Driving Down Costs
Waymo's commitment to developing both hardware and software in-house has been a cornerstone of its success. The 6th-generation system exemplifies this approach, delivering improved performance and expanded capabilities at a significantly reduced cost. Satish Jeyachandran, Vice President of Engineering at Waymo, emphasizes this achievement, stating, "We’ve significantly reduced the cost of our 6th-generation system while delivering even more resolution, range, compute power, and enabling more capabilities."
Enhanced Perception for a Safer Ride
The 6th-gen Waymo Driver features a sophisticated sensor suite that includes 13 cameras, 4 lidar, 6 radar, and an array of external audio receivers (EARs). This comprehensive sensor array provides the Waymo Driver with a 360-degree view of its surroundings, extending up to 500 meters, day and night, and in a variety of weather conditions. The system's overlapping fields of view and redundant sensing modalities ensure safe and reliable operation, even in unexpected situations.
Conquering Challenging Weather
Waymo's relentless pursuit of safety has led to extensive testing in diverse environments, including those with extreme heat, fog, rain, and hail. The 6th-generation system builds upon these learnings, incorporating new features to tackle even harsher weather conditions, such as snow and freezing temperatures. The company's commitment to real-world testing and data collection has enabled it to develop robust solutions that ensure the Waymo Driver can maintain a clear view of its surroundings, regardless of the elements.
Accelerated Deployment and Enhanced Learning
With six generations of hardware development and integration under its belt, Waymo has honed its ability to rapidly and safely deploy new technology at scale. The 6th-gen system has already undergone rigorous testing in simulation, closed courses, and on public roads, accumulating thousands of real-world driving miles. The Waymo Driver's ability to learn from the collective experiences of its entire fleet, including previous generations, significantly accelerates the development and validation process.
A Vision Realized
Waymo's 6th-generation system is a testament to the company's unwavering dedication to safety and innovation. As Jeyachandran notes, "With safety as our guiding principle, our system's performance in simulation shows promising indications that we are on track to begin operating without a human behind the wheel in about half the time."
The 6th-gen Waymo Driver is not just a technological marvel; it's a tangible step towards a future where autonomous vehicles seamlessly integrate into our daily lives, offering safer, more efficient, and more accessible transportation for all.