Zoox has been testing its Level-3 (L3) autonomous automobiles in Las Vegas and the Bay Area for 4 years, method earlier than Amazon acquired the self-driving firm in 2020. But to have the ability to prepare its expertise additional, it has to carry trials in different areas with totally different environmental situations — like Seattle. Zoox has announced that it’s going to quickly begin testing its L3 automobiles within the metropolis to gather information and trial new {hardware} within the face of frequent rains.
“It rains more frequently in Seattle than it does in San Francisco,” the corporate mentioned in its announcement. Zoox constructed particular {hardware} into its sensors to offer its automobiles the potential to routinely take away water and particles when wanted. The Seattle trial will assist it validate whether or not its system and new {hardware} will work as meant. At the start of its trial, the corporate will deploy a small fleet of L3 automobiles to evaluate the calls for of the Seattle space, together with its slender tunnels and one-way roads, earlier than increasing its checks.
Zoox launched a completely autonomous robotaxi final 12 months, which is a tiny four-wheeled bi-directional automobile with no steering wheel. Its present L3 automobiles, nonetheless, are Toyota Highlanders outfitted with Zoox’s sensors and powered by its autonomous driving software program with a human driver behind the wheel. That mentioned, all its automobiles will use the identical sensor structure, so any information the L3 automobiles acquire will even profit its Level-5 robotaxis.
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