Waymo has recalled 3,791 robotaxis after an incident involving a flooded highway, in keeping with a report by Electrek. The corporate filed the voluntary recall with the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) after a car drove right into a flooded highway final week in San Antonio. No person was injured, because the taxi was not occupied, however the car was swept away by the flood.
The robotaxi ought to have routed across the hazard, however did not. That is one other instance of how distinctive climate situations can journey up self-driving automobiles.
The corporate will problem an OTA software program repair and there is no want for the automobiles to go to a service heart. Waymo says it has already carried out interim constraints whereas the software program patch is being finalized. Moreover, it is “limiting entry to areas the place flash flooding may happen.”
That is the second flood-related incident to influence San Antonio-based Waymo robotaxis prior to now month. It has quickly ceased operations within the metropolis, however reviews point out it is beginning again up later this week.
The OTA software program replace ought to patch issues up, as this very a lot looks like a difficulty referring to an algorithm not understanding what to do with a flooded avenue. This is not the primary time Waymo has needed to recall its fleet and problem a software program repair. It was just lately found that firm automobiles had a bent to illegally move stopped faculty buses.
