[msb-alumni] Waymo, Chrysler to debut self-driving van at International Auto Show
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2016 15:10:30 -0500
BlankWaymo, Chrysler to debut self-driving van at NAIAS Greg Gardner , Detroit
Free Press
Waymo, the self-driving car project birthed by Google, will show the
autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivan Jan. 8 at the North American International
Auto Show. The news was tweeted this afternoon by John Krafcik, Waymo CEO.
It comes one day after Fiat Chrysler said it had assembled 100 of the vans and
delivered them to Waymo in Mountain View, Calif. Earlier this year Google
opened a development center in Novi where it conducted some of the work on the
self-driving Pacifica. Waymo will begin testing them in January. FCA and
Google'announced their partnership last May. Last week the tech giant announced
the self-driving car project would henceforth be known as Waymo. FCA modified
the Pacifica's electrical, powertrain, chassis and structural systems. Waymo
will now outfit them with'an additional'computer'and suite of sensors, cameras,
LiDAR and radar that navigates the van. Google engineers have completed about 3
million miles of human-oc'cup'ant public road testing with its smaller'pod-like
vehicles that are navigated without a steering wheel or pedals. "We're close to
bringing this to a lot of people," Krafcik said last week at a presentation
in San Francisco, "We're kind of at an inflection point. Asked about a report
that'Waymo'eventually will introduce a steering wheel and pedals, Krafcik
said the company is open to that modification. During all testing there will be
a person in the driver's seat to take control if the autonomous technology
fails in any way. "Today there isn't necessarily a clear path to mass
production
of self-driving cars without steering wheels, given NHTSA regulations,"
Krafcik said, referring to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
the federal safety regulator that currently requires those types of controls
in a vehicle. Krafcik will speak Jan.8, the first day of media previews at the
North American International Auto Show.
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