{"id":70094,"date":"2022-11-15T15:27:03","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T13:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=70094"},"modified":"2025-09-08T00:05:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T21:05:54","slug":"waymo-turns-robotaxis-into-mobile-weather-stations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/waymo-turns-robotaxis-into-mobile-weather-stations\/","title":{"rendered":"Waymo Turns Robotaxis Into Mobile Weather Stations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Waymo, Alphabet&#8217;s subsidiary, has taught robotaxi vehicles to generate real-time weather maps to enhance taxi services in Phoenix and San Francisco (USA).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Weather can be a challenge\u2014for humans and autonomous driving systems. \ud83c\udf2b\ufe0f\ud83c\udf27\ufe0f\u26c5<\/p>\n<p>Our latest cutting-edge research enables the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WaymoDriver?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WaymoDriver<\/a> to generate a quantitative metric about meteorological visibility by combining its hardware &#038; the power of AI. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/u3f21zirSM\">https:\/\/t.co\/u3f21zirSM<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yyFYuI6KGr\">pic.twitter.com\/yyFYuI6KGr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Waymo (@Waymo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Waymo\/status\/1592188852260716544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Autonomously driven vehicles struggle to navigate in bad weather. Heavy rain, fog or snow can disable the perception systems of autonomous vehicles, which largely rely on cameras, radars and <a href=\"https:\/\/ru.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%D0%9B%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u043b\u0438\u0434\u0430\u0440\u044b<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To address these problems, Waymo installed visibility sensors in its robotaxi, which, in combination with other equipment, help the AI driver make decisions in adverse weather. The vehicles can measure raindrops on the windows to gauge the intensity of different phenomena.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Waymo_WeatherEstimationBlog_Fog.gif\" alt=\"Waymo \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u0440\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438 \u0432 \u043c\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043c\u0435\u0442\u0435\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0446\u0438\u0438\" class=\"wp-image-190893\"\/><figcaption>Autonomous vehicle operation in fog. Data: Waymo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;We describe our robo-cars as mobile weather stations. That&#8217;s how they operate,&quot; said Daniel Rotenberg, a member of Waymo&#8217;s meteorology team.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The technology gives the company a more detailed picture of weather conditions than airport stations, radars and satellites.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WeatherStations-1024x577.png\" alt=\"Waymo \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u0440\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438 \u0432 \u043c\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043c\u0435\u0442\u0435\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0446\u0438\u0438\" class=\"wp-image-190891\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WeatherStations-1024x577.png 1024w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WeatherStations-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WeatherStations-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WeatherStations-1536x865.png 1536w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WeatherStations.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Determining weather conditions for unmanned vehicles at street level helps complement data from weather stations. Data: Waymo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Waymo has already created a &quot;first-of-its-kind&quot; fog map for San Francisco. It combines millions of data points collected by robo-cars as they traverse the city\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/cqE_ke_6eVs26X1_wOo9Lxkq7JOTlXHN_yUspj7PRtp3Dst73q_rros5cxnNOuG_rfIhC0I71jymLCS30SICD9DyFryEtP4YyAdanXclZ7KLrFe_XmZzH8DdqKtxSLXzlrdNb3rAb26NFt8vhlbA4SrXOsx8Q8ydm38WTR2aoBd8Lz94mblrH3ojvsAeI9o.gif\" alt=\"Waymo \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u0440\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438 \u0432 \u043c\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043c\u0435\u0442\u0435\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0446\u0438\u0438\" class=\"wp-image-190906\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"\/><figcaption>The fog map of San Francisco created by unmanned vehicles. Data: Waymo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Using the map, the Waymo fleet can track the spread of coastal fog rolling in from the Pacific Ocean and its disappearance at sunrise. The unmanned vehicles can also detect drizzle and light rain in conditions invisible to the National Weather Service radar.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;We can understand in real time the actual weather conditions that affect our cars in a truly hyperlocal context. This wasn&#8217;t the case before,&quot; Rotenberg said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Waymo said the unmanned vehicles are already performing &#8216;pretty well&#8217; in light fog.<\/p>\n<p>By expanding forecasting and decision-making capabilities with more hyperlocal data, the company expects robotaxis to become even more effective in challenging weather conditions in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>In November, Waymo was cleared to charge for operating driverless robotaxi s in San Francisco (USA). For commercial deployment of fully autonomous taxis the company needs approval from the California Public Utilities Commission.<\/p>\n<p>In October, it emerged that Waymo plans to launch robotaxis in Los Angeles (USA). Company representatives have already begun collecting mapping data in the city.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Waymo launched a robotaxi without a safety driver behind the wheel in downtown Phoenix, USA.<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to ForkLog&#8217;s Telegram news: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklogAI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">ForkLog AI<\/a> \u2014 all the news from the world of AI!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Waymo, Alphabet&#8217;s subsidiary, has taught robotaxi vehicles to generate real-time weather maps to enhance taxi services in Phoenix and San Francisco (USA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[438,1522,26],"class_list":["post-70094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-transport","tag-usa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"74","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70096,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70094\/revisions\/70096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}