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We’re building a Driver that’s leading the way for the entire industry. Informed by unmatched experience and designed with safety at its heart, the Waymo Driver is our autonomous driving technology that never gets drunk, tired, or distracted.
miles
The Waymo Driver is The World’s Most Experienced DriverTM
With millions of miles driven through countless situations on public roads, and billions more in simulation, we've gathered incredible amounts of data to take autonomous driving technology further than anyone else.
The data to date indicates that the Waymo Driver is reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where we operate.
assist
The Waymo Driver vs Driver assist
While many companies promote 'self-driving' features, what they often have is driver assist technology which still requires a human driver behind the wheel, paying full attention and ready to take over whenever the car encounters a situation it can’t handle.
The Waymo Driver is the embodiment of fully autonomous technology that is always in control from pickup to destination. Passengers don’t even need to know how to drive. They can sit in the back seat, relax, and enjoy the ride with the Waymo Driver getting them to their destination safely.
how-it-works
How it works
Mapping out every intersection, sign, and signal
Before our Waymo Driver begins operating in a new area, we first map the territory with incredible detail, from lane markers to stop signs to curbs and crosswalks. Then, instead of relying solely on external data such as GPS which can lose signal strength, the Waymo Driver uses these highly detailed custom maps, matched with real-time sensor data, to determine its exact road location at all times.
How it works
Keeping an eye on everything, all at once
The Waymo Driver's perception system takes complex data gathered from its advanced suite of car sensors, and deciphers what's around it through technology like machine learning - from pedestrians to cyclists, vehicles to construction, and more. The Waymo Driver also responds to signs and signals, like traffic light colors and temporary stop signs.
How it works
Predicting things before they happen
Driving situations can involve hundreds of objects, each with their own unique behaviors and intentions. The Waymo Driver takes the information it gathers in real time, as well as the experience it has built up over its 20+ million miles of real world driving and 20+ billion miles in simulation, to anticipate what other road users might do. It understands how a car moves differently than a cyclist, pedestrian, or other object, and then predicts the many possible paths that the other road users may take, all in the blink of an eye.
How it works
Planning for the safest outcome
The Waymo Driver takes all of this information – from its highly-detailed maps, to what objects are around and where they might go – and plans the best action or route to take. It instantly determines the exact trajectory, speed, lane, and steering maneuvers needed to behave safely throughout its journey.
dimensions
Seeing the road in multiple dimensions.
Over the past decade, Waymo has developed a single integrated system of sensors and compute designed to work together to give the Waymo Driver a comprehensive view of the world around it. Whether it’s day or night, near or far, the Waymo Driver is designed to clearly see what’s happening.
Lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, paints a 3D picture of the vehicle’s surroundings. Lidar sensors are located all around the vehicle in order to send millions of laser pulses in all directions, then measure how long it takes for them to bounce back off objects. No matter the time of day, our lidar system gives the Waymo Driver a bird’s eye view of what’s around.
Our cameras give the Waymo Driver a simultaneous 360° view around the vehicle. They are designed with high dynamic range and thermal stability, to see in both daylight and low-light conditions, and tackle more complex environments. They can spot traffic lights, construction zones, and other scene objects, even from hundreds of meters away. There are 29 cameras on our Jaguar I-PACEs.
Radar uses millimeter wave frequencies to provide the Waymo Driver with crucial details like an object’s distance and speed. Radar is effective in rain, fog, and snow.
As the “brain" of the Waymo Driver, our onboard computer combines the latest server-grade CPUs and GPUs. It takes information provided by dozens of sensors on the car, identifies the different objects (like other cars and pedestrians), and plans a safe route towards your destination – all in real time.
Lidar
Cameras
Radar
Compute
Lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, paints a 3D picture of the vehicle’s surroundings. Lidar sensors are located all around the vehicle in order to send millions of laser pulses in all directions, then measure how long it takes for them to bounce back off objects. No matter the time of day, our lidar system gives the Waymo Driver a bird’s eye view of what’s around.
Our cameras give the Waymo Driver a simultaneous 360° view around the vehicle. They are designed with high dynamic range and thermal stability, to see in both daylight and low-light conditions, and tackle more complex environments. They can spot traffic lights, construction zones, and other scene objects, even from hundreds of meters away. There are 29 cameras on our Jaguar I-PACEs.
Radar uses millimeter wave frequencies to provide the Waymo Driver with crucial details like an object’s distance and speed. Radar is effective in rain, fog, and snow.
As the “brain" of the Waymo Driver, our onboard computer combines the latest server-grade CPUs and GPUs. It takes information provided by dozens of sensors on the car, identifies the different objects (like other cars and pedestrians), and plans a safe route towards your destination – all in real time.
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Putting our tech to the test
Testing is the backbone of everything we do. We rigorously put the Waymo Driver through scenarios that are more challenging than what we encounter on the road to validate that it meets our internal safety readiness criteria, and follows all applicable state laws and federal regulations for testing
Closed courses
We test our latest software on our private test tracks where we can stage complex and rare scenarios in a safe and controlled environment. In total, we’ve completed over 40,000 unique scenarios in closed course environments.
Public roads
We constantly drive on public roads which allows us to evaluate and improve our performance, observe real-world situations, and further improve our software.
Simulation
We’ve driven more than 20 billion miles in simulation to help identify the most challenging situations our vehicles will encounter on public roads. We can either replay and tweak real-world miles or build completely new virtual scenarios, for our autonomous driving software to practice again and again.
Crash avoidance
Waymo has completed thousands of crash avoidance tests, each recreating a distinct driving situation. This allows us to analyze the Waymo Driver's response in situations when other road users create potentially dangerous situations, like a vehicle suddenly pulling out of driveways, motorcyclists weaving through traffic, or pedestrians jaywalking.
Hazard analysis
Waymo performs comprehensive analysis of our hardware, behavioral and embedded controls software, vehicle platform integration, and operations before our system drives in the real world. Hazard analysis is a well-established methodology used to identify potential causes of safety risks and either eliminate or mitigate those hazards early in the engineering process
Reliability & durability
The Waymo Driver needs to work well under extreme environmental conditions over the entire lifetime of the vehicle. We expose our components to ultraviolet radiation, bombard them with powerful water jets, corrode them in chambers full of salty mist, shake them with powerful vibrations, and heat and freeze them for weeks at a time. We then analyze any weaknesses and continuously make design improvements.
backup
Backups you can count on
Secondary compute
The Waymo Driver has a secondary on-board computer that’s always running in the background. It’s designed to bring the vehicle to a safe stop should it detect a failure of the primary system.
Backup collision detection and avoidance system
Multiple backup systems—including independent collision avoidance systems—are constantly vigilant about the road ahead and behind the vehicle for objects such as pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles. They can slow or stop the car in the rare event that the primary system doesn’t respond.
Redundant steering
The steering system features a redundant secondary drive motor system with independent controllers and separate power supplies.
Redundant braking
A full, secondary braking system can bring the vehicle to a safe stop if needed.
Backup power systems
Independent power sources are provided for each of the critical driving systems. They ensure that the Waymo Driver remains up and running during rare power failures or circuit interruptions.
Redundant inertial measurement systems for vehicle positioning
This helps the Waymo Driver accurately track its motion along the road. These two systems cross-check each other and assume control from one another if a fault is detected in either system.
Cybersecurity
Protecting the Waymo Driver from malicious activity is paramount. Waymo has developed a robust process to identify, prioritize, and mitigate cybersecurity threats in alignment with industry and government-defined security best practices.
