Aurora CEO Chris Urmson on building the roadmap to fully autonomous vehicles | E1228 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Chris Urmson, CEO and Co-founder of Aurora, discusses the history of self-driving technology, the challenges faced during the early days, and the future of autonomous vehicles.

Key Insights

• 💨 Self-driving technology has come a long way since the early 2000s, with significant advancements in hardware and software.
• 🤩 Aurora is focusing on self-driving trucks as their first product, aiming to launch in the next few years.
• ❓ Collaboration between autonomous technology companies and established industry leaders is crucial for successful implementation.
• 🖐️ Data collection, simulation, and testing play a significant role in advancing self-driving technology and ensuring safety.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: How did the DARPA self-driving challenges in the early 2000s contribute to the development of autonomous vehicles?

The DARPA challenges allowed teams to focus their research and technological advancements in a competitive setting, pushing the boundaries of self-driving technology and paving the way for future innovations.

Q: What are the key differences between self-driving technology in the early 2000s and current advancements?

The hardware stack has greatly improved, with higher resolution cameras, advanced lidar systems, and powerful processors. Additionally, significant progress has been made in software development, utilizing machine learning and deep learning algorithms.

Q: When can we expect self-driving vehicles to be available for passenger transportation on a large scale?

Urmson mentions that Aurora's first product will focus on self-driving trucks and expects to launch in the coming years, starting in major freight hubs like Texas. The timeline for self-driving passenger transportation is less clear, but significant advancements are being made.

Q: How does Aurora plan to collaborate with major companies like Uber and Toyota in developing self-driving technology?

Aurora aims to provide its platform, the Aurora driver, as a service to partners like Uber and Toyota. They plan to bring their autonomous technology expertise while leveraging the partners' strengths in vehicle manufacturing and fleet management.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Urmson highlights the early days of self-driving technology, including his participation in the DARPA self-driving contests in the early 2000s.

• He explains the goals of DARPA's challenges, which was to develop autonomous vehicles to reduce the risk to human lives in logistics supply chains during wars.

• Urmson discusses the current progress of self-driving technology, with Aurora focusing on developing self-driving trucks in partnership with companies like Uber and Toyota.