Waymo, the largest robotaxi fleet in the West with 3,791 vehicles, has suspended its service in Atlanta after an autonomous car got stranded in a flood. This is the fifth city where it suspends service, joining San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and Austin. The problem is that the company does not have a definitive solution for heavy rain: its sensors degrade in bad weather, and the weather alert system was not fast enough to prevent the incident.
Sensors that fog up and alerts that arrive late 🌧️
Despite surpassing one million weekly trips, Waymo still cannot guarantee safety in extreme weather conditions. LiDAR sensors and cameras lose precision with heavy rain, fog, or hail, causing the navigation system to make erratic decisions. The incident in Atlanta occurred because the vehicle did not detect the water level on the road in time. The company acknowledges that its weather prediction software did not activate safety alerts with the necessary advance notice to avoid the stranding.
The robotaxi that wanted to be a boat 🚗💦
It seems Waymo engineers forgot to include a chapter on hydrology in the autonomous car manual. While humans put on chains or simply stay home when it rains cats and dogs, these vehicles decide to take an urban dip. The good news is they already have experience getting stranded in five cities; the bad news is they still haven't learned to call a tow truck on their own. Perhaps the next step is to install floaters.