Uber builds a simulated city for testing

Although Uber's automatic driving has suffered, the entire project is still in progress. According to foreign media reports, Uber tested autopilot in a simulated city in Pittsburgh, USA, to teach the system to learn to drive in the real world. This simulation site is called ALMONO and was transformed from an old steel mill. There is a huge turntable in the venue, as well as fake cars and mobile mannequins that can appear on the street without warning. There is even something container-like that can be used as a building to simulate the driving situation when the vehicle's line of sight is blocked. ALMONO has a total area of ​​42 acres, but Uber is said to require local authorities to approve another expansion of 13,000 square feet. It is understood that in most cases, Uber's simulation of those scenes is even worse than driving on public roads. And Uber wanted to train not only the autonomous car, but also the vehicle operator sitting behind the wheel to prepare for something unexpected. In December last year, some netizens photographed Uber’s auto driving vehicle, but later the company stated that it was a “human error”. Now Uber's training of operators is quite rigorous. It takes a total of three weeks of written evaluations and road tests. Now this company already has hundreds of safe drivers. The operator will first test and practice in ALMONO's simulation environment before traveling to the real road environment, such as downtown Pittsburgh. Of course, Uber's self-driving cars are also the same, and they can only leave ALMONO after successfully passing certain tests, such as emergency braking in front of sudden pedestrians. Uber is not the only company that builds a simulated city to train autonomous vehicles. Ford had a scene in Michigan called MCity that covered 32 acres. In September last year, Uber introduced the autonomous vehicle to the public for the first time in Pittsburgh. Local users can call a self-driving Ford Fusion when hitting a taxi. At the time, Google had not yet introduced the technology to the public, but it was still being tested on the road. This also shows Uber's determination to automate driving. Later, Uber also launched similar projects in Arizona and San Francisco in the United States. However, the vehicle management office in California later withdrew Uber's automatic vehicle registration, so it can only collect maps. Another unknown Uber faced with autopilot was its lawsuit with Waymo, which was accused of stealing intellectual property and trade secrets. The case will be pronounced in December this year.

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