carcraft
Latest
Waymo simulation is teaching self-driving cars invaluable skills
Last month, Alphabet offered up its first proper look at Carcraft. The simulation is a virtual home away from home (the real world) for Waymo's self-driving vehicles. Here, you'll find a replica of every real-world mile the autonomous cars have driven. And, each day, Waymo's 25,000-strong fleet of Chrysler Pacificas traverse 8 million of these simulated miles. That's according to the company's latest blog post, which further breaks down its software. By honing in on a traffic signal in a particularly busy intersection, Waymo demonstrates how Carcraft can teach its connected vehicles to envision an exhaustive amount of scenarios (including hazards). In turn, the cars can then practice the manoeuvres that will help them safely navigate these situations in the real world.
'Carcraft' is Waymo's virtual world for autonomous vehicle testing
Earlier this year we watched as an AI kept driving straight into the water in Grand Theft Auto: V. Rather than use Rockstar Games' crime-world magnum opus to train its self-driving vehicles, though, Waymo instead uses Carcraft. Named for Blizzard's enduring online RPG World of Warcraft, it serves as a testing ground for the company's autonomous efforts. Yes, Alphabet built its own virtual world to train self-driving cars.
