Uber self-driving cars back on public roads, but in manual mode Posted on : Jul 25 - 2018

Uber  is putting its autonomous vehicles back on Pittsburgh’s city streets, four months after a fatal accident involving one of its self-driving cars prompted the ride-hailing company to halt testing on public roads. But for now, Uber’s modified self-driving Volvo XC90 vehicles will only be driven manually by humans and under a new set of safety standards that includes real-time monitoring of its test drivers and efforts to beef up simulation.

The sensors, including light detection and ranging radar known as LiDAR, will be operational on these self-driving vehicles. They won’t be operated in autonomous mode, however. Uber will use these manually operated self-driving vehicles to update its HD maps of Pittsburgh.

This manual-first rollout is a step toward Uber’s ultimate goal to relaunch its autonomous vehicle testing program in Pittsburgh, according to Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies Group, who published a post Tuesday on Medium.

Uber halted all of its autonomous vehicle operations March 19, the day after one of its vehicles struck and killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. Uber was testing its self-driving vehicles on public roads in Tempe, Ariz., where the accident occurred, as well as in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

In the days and weeks following the fatal accident, it appeared the company’s self-driving vehicle program might end for good. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a proponent of autonomous-vehicle technology who invited Uber to the state, suspended the company from testing its self-driving cars following the accident. Last month, Uber let go all 100 of its self-driving car operators in Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

Those drivers affected by the layoffs, most of whom were in Pittsburgh, are being encouraged to apply for Uber’s new mission specialist positions. Uber is holding off on making these positions public until the laid-off drivers have a chance to apply and go through the interview process.

Even now, with the company beefing up its safety protocols and taking a slower approach to autonomous vehicle testing, the program’s future is still uncertain. Another accident would likely derail it for good.

These new safeguards aim to avoid such a scenario. Uber said Tuesday that all its self-driving vehicles, whether they’re driven manually or eventually in autonomous mode, will have two Uber employees inside. These “mission specialists” — a new name Uber has given to its test drivers — will have specific jobs. The person behind the wheel will be responsible for maintaining the vehicle safely, while the second “mission specialist” will ride shotgun and document events. View More