Waymo has announced a software update to improve its robotaxis’ ability to navigate through disabled traffic lights during power outages. The company explained the challenges its self-driving vehicles faced at intersections in San Francisco during a recent blackout.
According to Waymo, its robotaxis interpret dark stoplights as four-way stops, mimicking human behavior. However, the vehicles encountered issues during the blackout, leading to a surge in ‘confirmation check’ requests to ensure correct actions. In response, Waymo is refining its confirmation request system to handle such situations more effectively at scale.
The upcoming software update will provide the self-driving software with additional power outage context, enabling it to navigate decisively through such scenarios. Waymo also plans to enhance emergency response protocols based on insights gained from the blackout incident.
Despite the challenges, Waymo highlighted that its robotaxis successfully passed over 7,000 dark signals on the day of the outage, showcasing the technology’s resilience in adverse conditions.
Source: TechCrunch
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