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TimesLIVE
an hour ago
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
How Tesla plans to remotely operate its robotaxis — and where the limits lie
Tesla is expected to tiptoe into its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, as soon as Sunday with about 10 of its Model Y SUVs that will operate within strict limits. CEO Elon Musk has said the company is being 'super paranoid' about safety and that humans will remotely monitor the fleet. Remote access and control — known in the industry as 'teleoperation' — is used in varying degrees by the handful of robotaxi start-ups operating around the globe. The technology has clear advantages and important limitations. Here are some details of how it works: What is teleoperation? Teleoperation is the control of machines by humans in a different location, usually over a wireless network. It is used to train robots to operate autonomously, monitor their autonomous activity and take over when required. How do robotaxi operators use teleoperation? The global robotaxi industry is still in test mode, as companies deploy the vehicles in limited geographic areas and continually adjust the artificial intelligence software that controls them. Teleoperation is often used to intervene when a vehicle is unsure of what to do. Alphabet's Waymo, for example, has a team of human 'fleet response' agents who respond to questions from the Waymo Driver — its bot. 'Much like phone-a-friend, when the Waymo vehicle encounters a particular situation on the road, the autonomous driver can reach out to a human fleet response agent for additional information,' Waymo said in a blog post last year. Former Waymo CEO John Krafcik told Reuters, 'the cars aren't being actively monitored,' adding that the software is 'the ultimate decisionmaker'. A Waymo video shows a car asking a remote operator whether a street with emergency response vehicles is open to traffic. When the human says yes, the vehicle proceeds. In contrast, other companies, such as Baidu's Apollo Go in China, have used fully remote backup drivers who can step in to virtually drive the vehicles. Baidu declined to comment. What are the limitations? Driving vehicles remotely on public roads has a major potential problem: it relies on cellular data connections that can drop or operate with a lag, disconnecting the vehicle from the remote driver in dangerous situations. Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University engineering professor and autonomous-vehicle safety expert, said that approach could work for a small test deployment of 10 vehicles, such as Tesla's initial effort in Austin, but he called teleoperation 'inherently unreliable technology'. 'Eventually you will lose connection at exactly the worst time,' he said. 'If they've done their homework, this won't ever happen for 10 cars. With a million cars, it's going to happen every day.' Former Waymo CEO Krafcik agreed, adding that the time delay in cell signal makes remote driving 'very risky'. On the other hand, relying on the vehicle to reach out for help and allowing the vehicle to be the decisionmaker are risky as well, Koopman said, as it does not guarantee the vehicle will make the right decision. Waymo declined to comment on the limitations of its approach. Koopman also noted there are limits to how many vehicles one person can safely monitor. A group of Democratic Texas legislators asked Tesla on Wednesday to delay its robotaxi launch until September, when a new autonomous-driving law is scheduled to take effect. The Austin-area legislators said in a letter that delaying the launch 'is in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla's operations'. What is Tesla's approach? Musk for years has promised, without delivering, that its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) advanced driver assistance software would graduate to completely self-driving and control robotaxis. This year, he said Tesla would roll out a paid service in Austin underpinned by an 'unsupervised' version of the software. 'Teslas will be in the wild, with no one in them, in June, in Austin,' Musk told analysts and investors in January. In May, he told CNBC the robotaxi would only operate in parts of Austin that are safe for it, would avoid difficult intersections, and would use humans to monitor the vehicles. What those teleoperators will do is not clear. For years inside Tesla, company executives have expected to use teleoperators who could take over in case of trouble, said one person familiar with the matter. For instance, if a robotaxi were stuck in a crowded pedestrian area and confused about what to do next, a human teleoperator could take over and guide it, the source said. Tesla advertised for teleoperation positions, saying the company needs the ability to 'access and control' autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots remotely. Such employees can 'remotely perform complex and intricate tasks', it said in the advertisements. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Malaysian Reserve
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- Malaysian Reserve
China's Baidu eyes robotaxi expansion to Singapore and Malaysia
BAIDU Inc. is planning to launch its Apollo Go robotaxi service in Singapore and Malaysia as early as this year, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the company continues to expand its global footprint. Apollo Go is in discussions with potential partners to explore the right business models for the two markets, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Baidu Chief Executive Officer Robin Li has previously said the company was seeking partners such as mobility service providers, local taxi companies and third-party fleet operators for an asset-light approach. The development comes as Tesla Inc. prepares to launch its Cybercab robotaxi network within days, with Elon Musk staking the electric car maker's future growth on autonomous driving technology. At the same time, Chinese robotaxi companies including Apollo Go, and US-listed Weride Inc. and Pony AI Inc. are expanding into international markets such as the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia. Baidu didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Dow Jones Newswires reported the plans earlier. Apollo Go is fast scaling up. It has deployed than 1,000 self-driving vehicles worldwide, most of which are in China. It reached 11 million rides by the first quarter of this year, surpassing Alphabet Inc.'s autonomous driving unit Waymo's 10 million paid rides as of May 23. The Baidu unit is also exploring entering Europe and Turkey, and was in talks with Swiss Post unit PostAuto to roll out a robotaxi service in Switzerland. –BLOOMBERG
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Times
China's Baidu eyes robotaxi expansion to Singapore and Malaysia
[BEIJING] Baidu is planning to launch its Apollo Go robotaxi service in Singapore and Malaysia as early as this year, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the company continues to expand its global footprint. Apollo Go is in discussions with potential partners to explore the right business models for the two markets, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Baidu chief executive officer Robin Li has previously said the company was seeking partners such as mobility service providers, local taxi companies and third-party fleet operators for an asset-light approach. The development comes as Tesla prepares to launch its Cybercab robotaxi network within days, with Elon Musk staking the electric carmaker's future growth on autonomous driving technology. At the same time, Chinese robotaxi companies including Apollo Go, and US-listed Weride and Pony AI are expanding into international markets such as the Middle East, Europe and South-east Asia. Baidu didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Dow Jones Newswires reported the plans earlier. Apollo Go is fast scaling up. It has deployed than 1,000 self-driving vehicles worldwide, most of which are in China. It reached 11 million rides by the first quarter of this year, surpassing Alphabet's autonomous driving unit Waymo's 10 million paid rides as of May 23. The Baidu unit is also exploring entering Europe and Turkey, and was in talks with Swiss Post unit PostAuto to roll out a robotaxi service in Switzerland. BLOOMBERG
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
How is Tesla expected to remotely control its robotaxis, and what are its limitations?
Tesla is expected to tiptoe into its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, as soon as Sunday with about 10 of its Model Y SUVs that will operate within strict limits. CEO Elon Musk has said the company is being "super paranoid" about safety and that humans will remotely monitor the fleet. Remote access and control - known in the industry as " teleoperation " - is used in varying degrees by the handful of robotaxi startups operating around the globe. The technology has clear advantages and important limitations. Here are some details of how it works: WHAT IS TELEOPERATION? Teleoperation is the control of machines by humans in a different location, usually over a wireless network. It is used to train robots to operate autonomously, monitor their autonomous activity, and take over when required. HOW DO ROBOTAXI OPERATORS USE TELEOPERATION? The global robotaxi industry is still in test mode, as companies deploy the vehicles in limited geographic areas and continually adjust the artificial intelligence software that controls them. Teleoperation is often used to intervene when a vehicle is unsure of what to do. Alphabet's Waymo, for example, has a team of human "fleet response" agents who respond to questions from the Waymo Driver - its bot. "Much like phone-a-friend, when the Waymo vehicle encounters a particular situation on the road, the autonomous driver can reach out to a human fleet response agent for additional information," Waymo said in a blog post last year. Former Waymo CEO John Krafcik told Reuters, "the cars aren't being actively monitored," adding that the software is "the ultimate decision-maker." A Waymo video shows a car asking a remote operator whether a street with emergency response vehicles is open to traffic. When the human says yes, the vehicle proceeds. In contrast, other companies, such as Baidu's Apollo Go in China, have used fully remote backup drivers who can step in to virtually drive the vehicles. Baidu declined to comment. WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS? Driving vehicles remotely on public roads has a major potential problem: it relies on cellular data connections that can drop or operate with a lag, disconnecting the vehicle from the remote driver in dangerous situations. Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University engineering professor and autonomous-vehicle safety expert, said that approach could work for a small test deployment of 10 vehicles, such as Tesla's initial effort in Austin, but he called teleoperation "inherently unreliable technology." "Eventually you will lose connection at exactly the worst time," he said. "If they've done their homework, this won't ever happen for 10 cars. With a million cars, it's going to happen every day." Former Waymo CEO Krafcik agreed, adding that the time delay in cell signal makes remote driving "very risky." On the other hand, relying on the vehicle to reach out for help and allowing the vehicle to be the decision-maker are risky as well, Koopman said, as it does not guarantee the vehicle will make the right decision. Waymo declined to comment on the limitations of its approach. Koopman also noted there are limits to how many vehicles one person can safely monitor. A group of Democratic Texas lawmakers asked Tesla on Wednesday to delay its robotaxi launch until September, when a new autonomous-driving law is scheduled to take effect. The Austin-area lawmakers said in a letter that delaying the launch "is in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla's operations." WHAT IS TESLA'S APPROACH? Musk for years has promised, without delivering, that its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) advanced driver assistance software would graduate to completely self-driving and control robotaxis . This year, he said Tesla would roll out a paid service in Austin underpinned by an "unsupervised" version of the software. "Teslas will be in the wild, with no one in them, in June, in Austin," Musk told analysts and investors in January. In May, he told CNBC that the robotaxi would only operate in parts of Austin that are safe for it, would avoid difficult intersections, and would use humans to monitor the vehicles. What those teleoperators will do is not clear. For years inside Tesla, company executives have expected to use teleoperators who could take over in case of trouble, said one person familiar with the matter. For instance, if a robotaxi were stuck in a crowded pedestrian area and confused about what to do next, a human teleoperator could take over and guide it, the source said. Tesla advertised for teleoperation positions, saying the company needs the ability to "access and control" autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots remotely. Such employees can "remotely perform complex and intricate tasks," it said in the advertisements. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. "We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift," Musk said in a post on X last week while providing a tentative launch date of June 22.
The Star
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Star
China's Baidu eyes Robotaxi expansion to Singapore and Malaysia
A file photo of a driverless car by Apollo Go, Baidu's robotaxi service, driving past another Apollo Go robotaxi parked on the side of a road, in Wuhan, China. — Reuters Baidu Inc. is planning to launch its Apollo Go robotaxi service in Singapore and Malaysia as early as this year, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the company continues to expand its global footprint. Apollo Go is in discussions with potential partners to explore the right business models for the two markets, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Baidu Chief Executive Officer Robin Li has previously said the company was seeking partners such as mobility service providers, local taxi companies and third-party fleet operators for an asset-light approach. The development comes as Tesla Inc. prepares to launch its Cybercab robotaxi network within days, with Elon Musk staking the electric car maker's future growth on autonomous driving technology. At the same time, Chinese robotaxi companies including Apollo Go, and US-listed Weride Inc. and Pony AI Inc. are expanding into international markets such as the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia. Baidu didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Dow Jones Newswires reported the plans earlier. Apollo Go is fast scaling up. It has deployed than 1,000 self-driving vehicles worldwide, most of which are in China. It reached 11 million rides by the first quarter of this year, surpassing Alphabet Inc.'s autonomous driving unit Waymo's 10 million paid rides as of May 23. The Baidu unit is also exploring entering Europe and Turkey, and was in talks with Swiss Post unit PostAuto to roll out a robotaxi service in Switzerland. - Bloomberg
