Riding Around Miami in Ford's Self-Driving Test Cars
Riding Around Miami in Ford's Self-Driving Test Cars
Ford this week drove me around Miami's busy downtown,
midtown, and Wynwood neighborhoods in its self-driving Fusion. My first two
rides were uneventful, but then things got more interesting.
By Angela Moscaritolo November 15, 2018 11:50AM EST
"Don't die" was the general sentiment when I
told friends and family I was heading to Miami to get a ride in Ford's
self-driving test car.
Maybe I'm crazy, but I wasn't worried. I believe the
common refrain from autonomous vehicle (AV) makers and their allies: this
technology will make the roads safer, not less so. Several of my colleagues
have already had rides in self-driving test cars and lived to tell the tale.
Spoiler alert: so did I.
In late February, Ford deployed a fleet of autonomous
test vehicles in Miami, calling the south Florida city the "first proving
ground" for its self-driving business. Yesterday, the Dearborn,
Mich.-based automaker and its Pittsburgh-based self-driving technology partner
Argo AI gave a group of reporters, including this one, an opportunity to ride
around in them.
During Ford's well-planned and executed "Miami AV
experience," I got not one but four rides in the company's self-driving
Fusion around Miami's busy downtown, midtown, and mural-clad Wynwood
neighborhoods. Between stops, we used an Uber-like app Ford had spun up for the
event to request our next ride.
Ahead of the rides, Ford CEO James Hackett (pictured
above) warned us that they would not be flawless.
"The rides are not about perfection today,"
Hackett said. "We decided—with great discussion—we wanted you to feel
where we are, because we think we're further ahead than people
understand."
Argo AI President Peter Rander then assured us that
safety is the company's top priority.
Two safety drivers were present for each ride: one in the
driver's seat, and another riding shotgun. Each test driver goes through a
month of training in Pittsburgh before they're allowed on the road, one said.
They then get almost daily briefings about software changes.
The person in the driver's seat keeps their hands on the
steering wheel without gripping, letting it slide through their hands as it
moves on its own. If something goes awry, the safety driver can disengage
autonomous mode and take over control of the vehicle in three different ways:
by manually moving the steering wheel, or tapping the gas or brake pedal.
Meanwhile, the co-driver uses a laptop to monitor what the car is
"seeing" and "thinking" and take notes.
In Miami, Ford's AVs face plenty of challenges—people on
bikes, scooters, and in wheelchairs; one-way streets, emergency vehicles,
railroad tracks, tourists, and bad drivers.
The Rides
My first two rides were pleasant and uneventful. I didn't
feel scared in the least. It actually felt like a (very careful) human was
operating the vehicle. I quickly realized Ford's self-driving vehicles aren't
for people in a hurry: They won't go even a mile over the speed limit.
During my third ride, things got more interesting. We
rode from Midtown to Wynwood, one of the most densely crowded areas of Miami in
which Ford tests. At one point, a shirtless pedestrian darted into the road,
not on a crosswalk, coming close to the rear of the vehicle, thoroughly
freaking me out. The AV was not as startled and stayed on its route.
When faced with a large cement truck, the AV didn't do as
well. We were turning right, and the cement truck was stopped at a red light on
the other side of the road onto which we were turning. The test driver
explained that he had to disengage autonomous mode because the vehicle didn't
think it had enough room to make the turn, when it really did. The co-pilot
made a note about the incident, so Argo AI's engineers could look into it and
tweak the software so it could better react to similar incidents in the future.
One test driver said Argo AI has made "massive"
improvements to the software since he first started this past June. One of the
coolest parts of the job, he said, is seeing how quickly the company's
engineers can roll out those changes. In just the last two weeks, the software
has progressed like "night and day," he said.
My fourth and final ride of the day was the glitchiest.
It started out rough when the AV made a few jerky stops reacting to a cyclist
riding on the wrong side of the road. As we rode through a construction zone,
the car came to a complete stop in the middle of the road because it mistook a
cloud of dust for an object. On the final leg of the journey, the AV spent way
too long, in my opinion, driving behind a slow-moving bus, which stopped
several times. Most human drivers would have just gone around the bus.
Do Ford's test drivers ever disagree with the decisions
the car makes, I wondered? Sometimes, but the software is becoming more
human-like with every update, one said.
Moving Goods
Besides people, Ford is using its Miami testing ground to
explore how its AVs can move goods. During one stop, the company demoed the
autonomous delivery services it's testing with Domino's, online food ordering
service Seamless, and seven local businesses including three florists, three
dry cleaners, and a pet boutique.
Ford is currently using "simulated" AVs
operated by human drivers for these early trials, which aim to identify
customer and merchant pain points about the experience. The vehicles have
moving parts on the roof to mimic the LiDAR sensors Ford's actual AVs use to
"see" all around the vehicle.
Domino's customers ordering through the company's website
or app can opt to have their pizza delivered via a Ford AV. When the car
arrives, the customer receives a notification, so they can go outside and
retrieve their food. As the customer approaches the vehicle, audio prompts
instruct them to enter the last four digits of their phone number on a screen
on the side of the vehicle. The hatchback then opens automatically, revealing
the customer's order. After the customer collects their food, the hatchback
closes automatically.
During their interaction with the vehicle, a camera films
the customer's reactions. Ford also surveys customers afterwards to find out
what they thought of the experience. Early reactions from customers have been
generally positive. Some like the fact that they don't have to interact with an
actual human, a Ford rep said. At least one person tipped the car.
Looking Ahead
Ford is still in the early stages of building out its AV
ride-hailing and delivery services, which it plans to officially launch in
2021. The company recently expanded its AV business development to Washington,
D.C., where it expects to replicate everything it's doing in Miami.
The 2021 launch will involve the rollout of "tens of
thousands" of fully autonomous vehicles, operating without safety drivers,
in more than just two cities, Ford Autonomous Vehicles President and CEO Sherif
Marakby told reporters Wednesday. Looking ahead 10 years, Ford expects its
self-driving vehicle services to make up a "good portion" of its
revenue, he added.
This is a huge financial investment for Ford; the company
estimates it will spend $4 billion over the next five years.
"We want our self-driving vehicles to solve
real-world problems with levels of accessibility, affordability and convenience
that aren't possible now," Markby wrote in a blog post today. "When
self-driving vehicles are ready for wide-scale deployment, you can bet that we
will be, too."
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