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In an effort to shorten the long learning process from driving to cars, Waymo announced on Wednesday that it would put "the largest fully autonomous data set to date" at the disposal of the research community " in the hope of accelerating the development of the machine. perception and autonomous technology ".
The Alphabet unit, which was launched ten years ago as the Google Autonomous Car Project, said it hoped the new version would fuel autonomous driving technology research by adding to the body of data on which we could draw.
His data, collected using cameras and sensors installed on Waymo vehicles in various environments and road conditions, includes 1,000 high-resolution driving scenes that have been "carefully labeled" to indicate the presence of vehicles. 12 m objects such as pedestrians, cyclists and signs.
The tagged data is vital for the development of self-driving algorithms, that one must "learn" to interpret the world around them by feeding on millions of examples.
Given that Waymo is widely regarded as the most advanced company in the field of self-driving technologies, this decision is likely to be considered a concession, its autonomous approach not reaching exorbitant expectations.
Banks such as Morgan Stanley and Jefferies have valued the unit at $ 175 and $ 250 billion, respectively – multiples of the world's largest automakers – on the belief that it could soon upset the notion of auto ownership. and offer Uber-free driver service in the area. major cities of the world.
Drago Anguelov, head of research at Waymo, objected Tuesday to a press conference to reporters. "This is by no means an admission that we have problems solving these problems," he said. "We felt and it was not just us. . . that the domain was currently hampered by the lack of appropriate data sets. "
Vijaysai Patnaik, Product Manager at Waymo, said, "The fact that Waymo and others are publishing the dataset has nothing to do with that." "Hey, the problem is so difficult, just consolidate our data"; it's about how we empower the research community for whom it's very difficult to access data sets like this. "
The call for educational help comes as many independent driving experts master the expectations of when robotaxia will become a reality. Cruise, the independent driving group owned by General Motors, postponed last month the deployment of the e-helper service it was planned to start this year, saying additional tests were needed.
At the same time, Intel and 10 industry leaders recently released a common framework for the design and validation of autonomous vehicles, with the goal of establishing safety standards following large-scale fatal accidents involving Tesla and Uber vehicles. equipped with self-driving technologies.
"I think there are tough problems and elephants in the room, if you will, many of whom in the industry have not wanted to talk about," said Jack Weast, system architect in chief of autonomous driving at Intel, at the Financial Times in July. .
The Waymo release marks a turning point for a more vertically integrated company than most companies in the industry.
Waymo's competitors have all announced partnerships with automakers in recent years, highlighting the significant investments and technical challenges involved. Aurora, backed by Amazon, founded by Chris Urmson, former Waymo's technical manager, is collaborating with Hyundai and Kia, while Argo AI has partnered with Ford and Volkswagen.
But while Waymo orders vehicles from Fiat and Jaguar Land Rover and announces international service agreements with Nissan and Renault, it is "the only company to develop the full range of hardware and software in-house" said Mr Anguelov.
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