INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Uber is putting its autonomous vehicles back on Pittsburgh city streets, four months after a fatal accident involving one of its
self-driving cars prompted the ride-hailing company to halt testing on public roads
But for now, Uber modified self-driving Volvo XC90 vehicleswill only be driven manually by humans and under a new set of safety standards
that includes real-time monitoring of its test drivers and efforts to beef up simulation.
The sensors, including light detection and ranging
radar known as LiDAR, will be operational on these self-driving vehicles
They won&t be operated in autonomous mode, however
Uber will use these manually operated self-driving vehicles to update its HD maps of Pittsburgh.
This manual-first rollout is a step toward
Uber ultimate goal to relaunch itsautonomousvehicle testing program in Pittsburgh, according to Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced
Technologies Group, who published a post Tuesday on Medium.
Uber halted all of its autonomous vehicle operations March 19, the day after one
of its vehicles struck and killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe
Uber was testing its self-driving vehicles on public roads in Tempe, Ariz., where the accident occurred, as well as in Pittsburgh, San
Francisco and Toronto.
In the days and weeks following the fatal accident, it appeared the company self-driving vehicle program might end
for good.Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a proponent of autonomous-vehicle technology who invited Uber to the state, suspended the company from
testing its self-driving cars following the accident
Last month, Uberlet go all 100 of its self-driving car operators in Pittsburgh and San Francisco.
Those drivers affected by the layoffs,
most of whom were in Pittsburgh, are being encouraged to apply for Uber new mission specialist positions
Uber is holding off on making these positions public until the laid-off drivers have a chance to apply and go through the interview
process.
Even now, with the company beefing up its safety protocols and taking a slower approach to autonomous vehicle testing, the program
future is still uncertain
Another accident would likely derail it for good.
These new safeguards aim to avoid such a scenario
Uber said Tuesday that all its self-driving vehicles, whether they&re driven manually or eventually in autonomous mode, will have two Uber
These &mission specialists& — a new name Uber has given to its test drivers — will have specific jobs
The person behind the wheel will be responsible for maintaining the vehicle safely, while the second &mission specialist& will ride shotgun
and document events.
Uber is also equipping every self-driving vehicle with a driver monitoring system that will remain active whenever the
The system will track driver behavior in real time
If itdetects inattentiveness an audio alert will cue the driver
An alert is also sent to a remote monitor who will take appropriate action once they&ve assessed the situation, Uber said.
The driver
monitoring system, which an Uber spokesperson declined to share details about, is an off-the-shelf aftermarket product.
Investigators
determined that Rafaela Vasquez, who was operating theUberself-driving vehicle involved in the fatal crash, looked down at a phone that was
streaming The Voice204 times during a 43-minute test drive that ended when Herzberg was struck and killed, according to a 318-page police
report released by the Tempe Police Department.
Based on the data, police reported that Vasquez could have avoided hitting Herzberg if her
The case has been submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney office for review against Vasquez, who could face charges of vehicular
manslaughter.
Uber has always had a policy prohibiting mobile device usage for anyone operating its self-driving vehicles, according to a
However, without a proper driver monitoring system or another passenger in the vehicle, it was impossible for Uber to really know if that
rule was being followed.
Now, the driver monitoring system can spot the behavior immediately
If the system detects the driver is looking at a phone, the remote monitor will call the team immediately back, a spokesperson said, adding
it was grounds for dismissal.
Other safeguards include a defensive and distracted driving course conducted on a test track and fatigue
management program that requires the two mission specialists in each vehicle to periodically switch between driver and data logger roles,
according to Uber.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the accident.Apreliminary report by the NTSBfound Uber
modified Volvo XC90 LiDAR and radar first spotted an object in its path about six seconds before the crash
The self-driving system firstclassified the pedestrianas an unknown object, then as a vehicle and then as a bicycle.At 1.3 seconds before
impact, the self-driving system determined that an emergency braking maneuverwas needed to mitigate a collision, according to the NTSB
But to reduce the potential for &erratic behavior,& Uber had disabled Volvo emergency braking system so it didn&t work when the vehicle was
under computer control.
Uber said it will keep Volvo emergency braking and vehicle collision warning systems enabled while the vehicle is in
Engineers are examining whether the Volvo safety system can work in conjunction with its own self-driving technology while the vehicle is in
