Uber disabled the standard collision-avoidance system in the Volvo XC90 involved in self-driving car crash

Uber disabled the standard collision-avoidance system in the Volvo XC90 that was involved in a fatal self-driving crash. This was revealed by auto-parts maker Aptiv (formerly known as Delphi Automotive) that supplied the vehicle’s radar and camera, in a report by Bloomberg.

“We don’t want people to be confused or think it was a failure of the technology that we supply for Volvo, because that’s not the case,” said Zach Peterson, a spokesman for Aptiv. Peterson made it clear the XC90’s standard driver-assistance system “has nothing to do” with the Uber test vehicle’s autonomous driving system.

In the incident, the self-driving XC90 failed to slow down and crashed into 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. Uber has since stopped testing its autonomous vehicles throughout North America, and Arizona state governor Doug Ducey has suspended Uber’s ability to test and operate autonomous vehicles on Arizona’s public roadways.

Uber disabled the standard collision-avoidance system in the Volvo XC90 involved in self-driving car crash

For now, Uber has declined to comment on whether it tampered with the XC90’s standard collision-avoidance system. A Volvo spokesman said the carmaker will not speculate on the cause of the incident and is awaiting a full investigation report from the National Transportation Safety Board and that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Meanwhile, Intel’s Mobileye, which makes chips and sensors used in collision-avoidance systems and is a supplier to Aptiv, tested its own software following the incident. Its system was capable of detecting Herzberg one second before impact when a video of the Uber incident was played on a television monitor.

“The video released by the police seems to demonstrate that even the most basic building block of an autonomous vehicle system, the ability to detect and classify objects, is a challenging task. It is this same technology that is required, before tackling even tougher challenges, as a foundational element of fully autonomous vehicles of the future,” wrote Amnon Shashua, CEO of Mobileye, on Intel’s website.

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Gerard Lye

Originating from the corporate world with a background in finance and economics, Gerard’s strong love for cars led him to take the plunge into the automotive media industry. It was only then did he realise that there are more things to a car than just horsepower count.

 

Comments

  • Booyah! So who still says ini bukan Uber fault.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 25 Thumb down 0
    • Do you think you could have avoided her if you were driving on the road?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 17
      • Braking action may have caused serious injuries to that person but possibly not caused death. THAT car din brake at all. Somemore if the Volvo Car system were working, I wud have known the person was coming long b4.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 0
      • I can

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 2
      • Everyone can expect Uber lor… Summore have to ask nia

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
      • Some people have investigated and found it’s not as dark as the video seem to show. And if a normal person is driving, I think he can easily know she’s walking too near the car and can have instantly braked, horned or moved the car to the left or right to avoid the accident. My point is, the robot car is not doing as effectively as a human driver. Only difference is, a robot car will never get sleepy, tired, hungry, day dream, etc as some humans do.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
    • Richard Tido on Mar 28, 2018 at 2:13 pm

      At least Uber is trying hard to improve their services and also improve their technology. They don’t lepak and lay complacent

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 22
      • sell to grab easier

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 2
      • The whole world prefer they rather lepak and lay complacent instead of causing deaths. Except u.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 4
      • At the expense of someone’s life? What the heck that guy doing behind the wheel. He must be lepak and lay complacent

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 1
      • Edwin L on Mar 28, 2018 at 4:33 pm

        You serious with that comment? That show a lack of conscious and empathy. Are you even a real human being? From your name, I don’t think so.

        Such a cruel statement that the pursuit for profits and tech advancement overrules the emphasis for human lives, indeed all living beings as well. This is automated driving, not cruise missile. Uber is in the wrong business. Pentagon is thataway…

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 0
        • Edwin bro. That muppet entire existence and comments are all fake. Typical cytro, but this comment takes the cake. English has a word for it: heartless.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • JustSaySayLor on Mar 28, 2018 at 1:29 pm

    Just ban self driving system la. Not safe for self driving/auto pilot on the road. We r dealing wif traffic everyday on the road, people around, cars around, motocyclist around, animals around.We not the only on the road n who use the road. It is not driving on clear sky. In aeroplane ok la auto pilot since it clear sky. But still we cant smell the bad luck, anything can happen. This system is human creation, human do make mistake, same as those system created, they do have problem sumtimes. After this uber self driving incident, who to blame? The system? The company who invented it? Volvo? The car? The backup driver? The software? Take long time to investigate. If human driving it then can blame human only la.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 6
    • Blame car. Saman the car, jail it, then gantung it.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
      • Lololololhaha on Mar 28, 2018 at 7:51 pm

        And the car will keep appealing in court of appeal. The car beg for mercy. If not, the car will end up halfcut car. Lols.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
  • klguy on Mar 28, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    Volvo should sue Uber….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 1
  • tokmoh. on Mar 28, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    I knew it, the standard pedestrian detection system may have been tempered with to allow for uber’s autonomous driver system to take full control of the vehicle.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 0
    • Too bad the front of the car with Volvos signature grille is plastered all over the world. Nak salahkan Volvo lettew.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • Digidigi on Mar 28, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    Uber can’t even do well in their core business, still got people defend for them after this incident happened, now it is clear that Uber is in fault, irresponsible company

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3
  • Jeremy on Mar 29, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    I think the AI is in sleep mode..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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