7 comments

  • camkego 1 hour ago
    It would be fascinating to know where the remote drivers were located that were remotely controlling these vehicles. Wasn’t there a big hubbub about using remote staff in the Philippines a while ago? This can change the reliability profile quite a bit. (Internet quality)
    • pixel_popping 1 hour ago
      Driving skill (and road manners) is also a serious issue, not only Internet quality (it's mostly solved nowadays with dual 5G/dual residential, Starlink is also available, np), getting a driver license is basically just paying a fixer for $200 (equivalent in PHP) and even if you attend the school genuinely and all, it's still super easy versus the west.
      • dghlsakjg 4 minutes ago
        You might be overestimating how hard it is to get a license in the states.

        My test was literally pay private driving school operator $50, pull onto a four lane road, change lanes, change lanes back, turn right three times to get back to the road, turn left, park successfully between the lines nose in, …and here’s a piece of paper for the DMV to give you a license. Maybe ten minutes, and have never had anyone check to see if I still know the rules in the 20 years since.

        I’m sure it has gotten harder in some places, but we really don’t ask for much of new drivers.

      • FireBeyond 9 minutes ago
        > Starlink is also available, np

        I would NOT be using Starlink for remote vehicle teleoperation even as a fall back.

      • cyanydeez 30 minutes ago
        i think the bigger problem is the mechanical turk "solution" where remote drivers are suppose to suddenly be a driver in corner cases as if thats a safe fallback
  • outside1234 2 minutes ago
    Just nuts this company is so highly valued still. Just clown level execution the whole way down.
  • Computer0 1 hour ago
    Does anyone know how the tele operators for either this or waymo interface with the vehicle? Do they have like a sim racing sort of setup? Are they trying to do this through an xbox controller type of thing? I know the military went that route.
    • taylortbb 1 hour ago
      At least for Waymo, the remote control is not nearly that direct. The human operators suggest a route through a confusing scene, but the self driving remains in control for executing that suggested route, and may reject it.

      A remote operator driving directly, via a racing sim setup or an Xbox controller, just isn't safe. Too much latency, lack of visibility, and connection unreliability.

    • AlotOfReading 1 hour ago
      Tesla's setup are a bunch of desks with steering wheels crammed together in a normal call center [0]. Waymo doesn't do teleoperation, but other companies exist that have like Vay. Compare their setup [1].

      [0] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GuE3ie2WcAAyeWs?format=jpg&name=...

      [1] https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/6828f0...

      • jnsie 13 minutes ago
        I assume/hope that Tesla teleoperators are required to have drivers licenses in the states in which the cars they are operating are located?
        • FireBeyond 7 minutes ago
          Given that some of these teleoperators are in the Philipines, and Tesla's sterling reputation for adhering to regulation and laws, I'm going to hazard my own guess.
      • whynotmaybe 43 minutes ago
        It must be hard to resist to drive the GTA way with such a setup
        • xgkickt 31 minutes ago
          They’re called off ramps for a reason right?
    • arjie 28 minutes ago
      They have examples here: https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response/

      The Waymo asks questions like "is this road closed?" and they also have a UI where they can designate in what orientation and where the Waymo should go to so that a path is drawn.

      They don't live-control the vehicles. It's a pretty cool solution to the problem.

    • senordevnyc 1 hour ago
      Waymo doesn’t have remote operators in the same way Tesla does. They can assist with making a decision on what to do if the car is stuck, but they do not remotely drive the car the way Tesla does.
    • whynotmaybe 1 hour ago
      W-A-S-D on a Dell keyboard wouldn't surprise me.
      • joe_mamba 36 minutes ago
        Hey, like so many others, I managed to beat NFS Underground 1 and 2, Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit using only the budget brand e-waste special keyboard, no analog controllers.

        IIRC some of the top NFS players also used the keyboard instead of fancy racing syms.

        So it's probably possible to control real life cars with a keyboard, provided they implement dedicated input filtering, PID controllers or Kalman filters, and throttle maps, instead of having a key press just be 100% gas/break.

  • senordevnyc 1 hour ago
    So not only do they still not have truly unsupervised cars, they also remotely drive them sometimes, and their remote drivers have helpfully demonstrated why that’s a terrible idea.

    Tesla is such an embarrassment.

  • metalman 1 hour ago
    doing the math would be a bit laborious, but does anyone happen to know the kinetic energy embodied in a tesla going the full "ludicrous" velocity?, which by all acounts, can happen very quickly in a short distance.
  • ramesh31 14 minutes ago
    [dead]
  • xnx 57 minutes ago
    Meanwhile, Waymo is doing 500,000+(!) rides every week.