Dmitri Dolgov: Waymo and the Future of Self-Driving Cars | Lex Fridman Podcast #147 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Waymo, the leading autonomous driving company, has achieved a significant milestone with fully driverless vehicles operating on public roads.

Key Insights

• 🚙 Waymo has achieved significant milestones in autonomous driving, starting from the DARPA Urban Challenge to operating fully driverless vehicles on public roads.
• 🎥 The company's hardware and software has evolved over the years, with an emphasis on customized technology, including lidars, cameras, and radars.
• 👤 Waymo's focus on user feedback and continuous improvement has contributed to the development of a compelling autonomous driving service.
• 🤗 The introduction of fully driverless vehicles has transformed the rider experience and opened up new possibilities for transportation.
• 🦺 Waymo's success has been driven by its combination of advanced technology, extensive testing, and a commitment to safety and reliability.
• 👤 The company's ability to learn from real-world operations and user interactions is critical for refining its autonomous driving system.
• 🚙 Waymo's vision extends beyond just individual cars; it includes the potential for a network of interconnected autonomous vehicles that can communicate and collaborate.

Transcript

the following is a conversation with dimitri dalgov the cto of waymo which is an autonomous driving company that started as google's self-driving car project in 2009 and became waymo in 2016. dimitri was there all along waymo is currently leading in the fully autonomous vehicle space in that they actually have an at-scale deployment of publicly acc... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What were some of the early milestones for Waymo?

Waymo started by driving 100,000 miles in autonomous mode and completing 10 routes of 100 miles each without human intervention. These milestones helped them better understand the complexity of the problem space and build a foundation for further development.

Q: How has Waymo evolved since those early milestones?

Waymo has transitioned from a driver-assist program to a vision of fully driverless vehicles. They demonstrated the world's first fully driverless ride on public roads in 2015, and in 2018, they launched their public commercial service, Waymo One. Since then, they have been continuously improving and expanding their operations.

Q: How does Waymo gather user feedback to improve its service?

Waymo collects feedback from riders through various channels. They ask for real-time feedback during and after the ride, and users can rate their experience and provide comments. Waymo also conducts user experience research studies and engages in longitudinal studies to gain deeper insights into user preferences and needs.

Q: What role do humans play in Waymo's autonomous driving system?

Humans provide support through customer service and live assistance. While Waymo's cars can operate autonomously, they may ask for confirmation and guidance from a human operator in challenging situations, if connectivity is available. Humans also play a role in fleet assistance, helping cars interact with each other and make better decisions in certain scenarios.

Q: What were some of the early milestones for Waymo?

Waymo started by driving 100,000 miles in autonomous mode and completing 10 routes of 100 miles each without human intervention. These milestones helped them better understand the complexity of the problem space and build a foundation for further development.

More Insights

• Waymo has achieved significant milestones in autonomous driving, starting from the DARPA Urban Challenge to operating fully driverless vehicles on public roads.

• The company's hardware and software has evolved over the years, with an emphasis on customized technology, including lidars, cameras, and radars.

• Waymo's focus on user feedback and continuous improvement has contributed to the development of a compelling autonomous driving service.

• The introduction of fully driverless vehicles has transformed the rider experience and opened up new possibilities for transportation.

• Waymo's success has been driven by its combination of advanced technology, extensive testing, and a commitment to safety and reliability.

• The company's ability to learn from real-world operations and user interactions is critical for refining its autonomous driving system.

• Waymo's vision extends beyond just individual cars; it includes the potential for a network of interconnected autonomous vehicles that can communicate and collaborate.

• The future of autonomous driving holds immense potential for revolutionizing transportation and shaping the way we live and work.

Summary

This conversation is with Dimitri Dolgov, the CTO of Waymo, an autonomous driving company. Dimitri shares his journey in robotics and computer science, from his early love of computers to his involvement in the DARPA Urban Challenge and the founding of Waymo. He discusses the milestones and challenges Waymo has faced in building fully driverless vehicles and shares insights into their technology and hardware.

Q: When did you first fall in love with robotics or computer science in general?

Dimitri first became interested in computer science at a young age in the late 80s when his family got their first computer. He started by playing video games and eventually began exploring programming. He wrote a game that drew interest from a Japanese game developer but instead chose to upload it online as freeware.

Q: What led you to pursue robotics, specifically autonomous driving?

Dimitri joined Stanford's DARPA Urban Challenge team in 2006, where he worked on motion planning for autonomous vehicles. This experience sparked his interest in robotics and self-driving cars. He later joined the Google self-driving car project in 2009, which eventually became Waymo.

Q: Can you share some memorable moments or challenges from the DARPA Urban Challenge?

Dimitri recalls the first time he ran his software on a self-driving car during the challenge. He also mentions a bug in their code that led to a debate and loss of first place. He describes the nerve-wracking experience of watching the cars complete their missions and the excitement of the competition.

Q: How did the Google self-driving car project evolve into Waymo?

After the DARPA Urban Challenge, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were inspired by the technology and started the self-driving car project in 2009. The initial goal was to better understand the problem space, but they eventually pivoted towards building a fully driverless product. Waymo was founded in 2016 to pursue the commercial vision of autonomous vehicles at scale.

Q: What were the milestones that led to the creation of Waymo?

In 2015, Waymo conducted the world's first fully driverless ride on public roads using a custom-built vehicle. In 2016, Waymo was founded as an independent entity. In 2017, they started regular driverless operations on public roads, and in 2018, they launched their public commercial service called Waymo One.

Q: Can you share details about Waymo's fifth generation of self-driving hardware?

Waymo's fifth-generation hardware includes lidars, cameras, and radars, which are designed and built in-house. The hardware represents a qualitative leap in capabilities compared to previous generations. Waymo also uses a powerful computer for processing sensor data and making real-time decisions.

Q: Can you reveal any interesting details about Waymo's computer or hardware specifications?

While Dimitri cannot share specifics about the computer's design due to intellectual property reasons, he mentions that it has redundancy, beefy compute for general processing and machine learning models, and the ability to process massive amounts of data from sensors in real time.

Q: How does Waymo's technology differ from other autonomous vehicle companies?

Waymo is unique in that it offers fully driverless rides without a safety driver present. Dimitri explains that this capability is what unlocks the real potential of autonomous vehicles. Waymo's focus on building a driver rather than a driver-assist system sets them apart from other companies.

Q: What are some of the recent milestones or advancements at Waymo?

In 2020, Waymo raised $3.2 billion in external financing, marking the maturing and growth of the company. They also introduced their fifth-generation self-driving hardware and began using it on the Jaguar I-PACE. Dimitri mentions that Waymo currently has 29 cameras, five lidars, and six radars on their vehicles.

Q: Can you discuss the future of autonomous driving and Waymo's role in it?

Dimitri believes self-driving technology will continue to advance, and Waymo aims to be at the forefront of innovation. They are focused on deploying fully driverless vehicles at scale to provide a transformative and magical experience for their riders.

Q: What are some of the challenges Waymo faces in achieving their goals?

Dimitri mentions that there are still technical challenges to overcome, such as expanding the operational domain, improving the technology's performance, and enhancing the rider experience. Additionally, regulations and societal acceptance play a role in the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles.

Takeaways

Dimitri Dolgov, the CTO of Waymo, discusses his journey in robotics and computer science, the evolution of Waymo from the Google self-driving car project, and the milestones they have achieved. Waymo's focus on building fully driverless vehicles sets them apart, and they have made significant advancements in their hardware and technology. The future of autonomous driving looks promising, but challenges remain in expanding the operational domain, improving performance, and gaining societal acceptance.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Waymo started as Google's self-driving car project in 2009 and became an independent company known as Waymo in 2016. It has a fully autonomous vehicle deployment with no safety driver present, a remarkable engineering accomplishment.

• The company has achieved several milestones, including driving 100,000 miles in autonomous mode and completing 10 routes of 100 miles each with no human intervention.

• Waymo launched its public commercial service, Waymo One, in 2018, and in 2019, it started offering fully driverless rider-only trips to its early rider population.

• The company raised $3.2 billion in external financing in 2020 and introduced the fifth generation of its self-driving hardware, a significant advancement in capabilities.