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  • For a vehicle to drive itself, it needs to know where it is in the world, and it also

  • needs to know what's around it. Based on these factors, it needs to be able to make smart

  • and safe driving decisions in the real world. And once you get in the car, you start to

  • get a real feel for the way the technology works and what it's like in real driving situations.

  • So there are a few things that have to happen before the car can start safely drive itself.

  • First, it has to figure out its location in the world. So we use GPS, but GPS isn't always

  • that accurate, which is why we rely on our other sensors, like the laser, which picks

  • up on details in the environment that help us identify a more precise location.

  • So think of the sensors as the car's eyes and ears. But with eyes that can see far off

  • into the distance and 360 degrees around the car. And the great thing about having all

  • of these sensors is that they can talk to each other and get cross-checked information

  • about the environment. So while we take in a ton of information using our sensors, it's

  • our software that really processes all this and differentiates between objects.

  • All these objects are visible on the laptop that the safety drivers use while testing the vehicles.

  • Based on what the vehicle senses and processes, these objects will be represented by different

  • colored boxes. Cyclists will be red, pedestrians yellow, and the vehicles will appear as either

  • green or pink. These boxes demonstrate the processing that takes place within the software.

  • And think about the complexity here. People look different, cars have different shapes

  • and sizes. Yet despite these nuances, the software needs to classify these objects appropriately

  • based on factors like their shape, movement pattern, or location.

  • For example, if there's a cyclist in the bike lane, the vehicle understands that this is

  • a cyclist, not another object like a car or a pedestrian, so the cyclist appears as a

  • red box on the safety driver's laptop. And the software can also detect the cyclist's

  • hand signal and yield to them appropriately. When our engineers think about where the car

  • should drive and how, safety is always the top priority. So the vehicle takes into account

  • many things, like how close it is to other objects, or matching speed with traffic, or

  • anticipating other cars cutting in. For example, as a passenger, it can feel a

  • little uncomfortable passing by a large vehicle on the road. Our engineers have taught the

  • software to detect the large vehicles and the laptop shows them as larger boxes on screen.

  • As our vehicle passes by a large truck, it will actually keep to the farther side of

  • the lane and give ourselves a little bit more space. And, we've also taught the vehicle

  • to recognize and navigate through construction zones. The vehicle's sensors can spot the

  • orange signs and cones early to alert the car of any lane blockage ahead, and then we

  • can change lanes safely. Another thing that's really important is for

  • the vehicle to drive in a naturalistic way, because when it's natural, and the car abides

  • by social norms on the road, it's also safer. For example, at four-way stops, people typically

  • rely on eye contact to communicate whose turn it is. And in our case, the vehicle inches

  • forward into the intersection to indicate its intent.

  • So, my role as a safety driver is first and foremost to keep the car, myself, and everyone

  • around me safe. And in addition to keeping the car safe, I also provide detailed feedback

  • to the developers and let them know if the car does anything that maybe I wouldn't have

  • done personally. Maybe the car wasn't assertive enough in a lane change, or wasn't fast enough

  • at a green light. We provide the detailed feedback so they can fine-tune the whole driving

  • experience. By getting out there and driving in the real

  • world, we're getting a better understanding of what exactly it's going to take to improve

  • the safety and comfort and ease of transportation. And that's really what our project's all about.

For a vehicle to drive itself, it needs to know where it is in the world, and it also

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