> The issue with self-driving is (1) how it generalises across novel environments without "highly-available route data" and provider-chosen routes; (2) how failures are correlated across machines.
Why is (1) an issue? Route data never gets worse.
Why is (1) an issue? Route data never gets worse.
Waymo, as far as I recall, relies on pretty active route mapping and data sharing -- ie., the cars arent "driving themselves" in the sense of discovering the environment as a self-driving system would.
I'm pretty sure that counts as "discovering the environment".
On net, yes, they are sensitive to features of the environment and via central coordination maintain a safe map of it.
The mechanism there heavily relies on this background of sharing, mapping, and route planning (and the like) -- which impacts on the ability of these cars to operate across all driving environments.
Construction? Parade? Giant tire-crunching pothole in the middle of the freeway?
Any time there is a detour, or a construction zone, or a traffic accident, or a road flooded, or whatever else your route data is not just "worse" it is completely wrong