Waymo Presents 6th Generation Of Their Autonomous Waymo Driver

Some sightings of Waymo’s new vehicle have already shown that there are some changes to the layout of the sensor suite, and now Waymo itself has confirmed the arrival of the next, sixth generation Waymo Driver.

The Waymo Driver is the computer driver that controls vehicles thanks to sensors and artificial intelligence. The new generation has been simplified and improved compared to the 5th generation of the Waymo Driver. For example, there are now only 16 cameras on the vehicle instead of the previous ones, making the overall system cheaper. At the same time, the resolution, the range of vision of the sensors and the computing power have also been increased. Furthermore, the vehicle has 5 lidars and 6 radars as before, as well as an external array of microphones, which can be used to identify the sirens of emergency vehicles, for example.

Further redundancies have also been introduced to increase vehicle safety against failures caused by extreme weather conditions or to increase resistance to deliberate enemy attacks. Waymo also focused on testing and optimizing the technology in extreme weather conditions, such as heavy snowfall or extreme heat.

The 6th generation sensors have already completed thousands of kilometers of real-world driving and millions more in simulations.

Update

A quick addendum to the recent posts about Waymos honking at other road users (see post 1 and post 2). A video from one of the Waymo depots in San Francisco went viral, showing returning Waymos trying to park at 4 a.m. and honking at each other, much to the chagrin of nearby residents.

There is also alive stream:

This article was also published in German.