Uber resumed tests of its robomobiles nine months after the accident with a fatal outcome

Uber has returned its robomobils to the general roads of Pittsburgh. Cars with autopilot appeared on the roads for the first time in nine months - tests of robocars stopped after a fatal accident. Then robotaksi with the driver-operator hit a woman in the dark. The victim of the accident crossed the road in the wrong place, holding the bike.

RoboMobil software misjudged the situation, deciding to go further and not stop. Now, according to Uber representatives, there will be more robomobiles, the project is being scaled. But the principle of testing has changed.

The Uber test program was launched in early 2018, when the robotaxy companies left for the roads of Pittsburgh and Phoenix. Several dozen cars with automatic control traveled through the cities, rolling more than 3 million km in the overall standings.

After the accident, the management of Uber decided to stop the testing of robotic vehicles across the country until the situation that led to the accident was clarified. The updated testing program provides for the dismissal of most operators of romobiles and work with new specialists.

Initially, a limited number of ro-mobiles will participate in the tests, and in each, except for the operator, there will be another person who will observe the autopilot. The maximum speed of the vehicle will initially reach 35 km / h.

According to representatives of the corporation, engineers have done an enormous amount of work on modernizing the autopilot software and expanding its functions.

It is worth noting that Uber gradually appears more and more competitors. Recently it became known about the imminent launch of the service of robotic taxis from Daimler AG and Bosch. According to the developers, the launch of the test phase is scheduled for the second half of 2019.

The service of the robotmoxy Waymo One is already working, which, however, is not very active yet. The number of users of the service is extremely limited, and the region of work is small.

Over time, as far as can be judged, there will be more and more mobile vehicles on public roads, and the autopilot systems will gradually become more perfect.