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GM’s Cruise Mapped 40 Percent Of Phoenix Metro Area So Far: Video

An Instagram post from GM’s autonomous vehicle and robotaxi subsidiary Cruise reveals what the enterprise has been busying itself with lately, with the posting and accompanying short video indicating that it has mapped approximately 40 percent of the Phoenix metro area as of May 1st, 2024.

The video shows an overview of the Phoenix streets, while overlaid text indicates that the mapping determines the location and extent of traffic lights, stop signs, speed limits, no parking zones, school zones, crosswalks, and other parts of the urban traffic “landscape.”

Side view of the Cruise AV showing its sensors.

Cruise says it is using human-driven “mapping cars” at this stage, not its autonomous vehicle (AV) fleet. Full mapping of the city will take place before AVs once again take to the streets, providing the self-driving robotaxis with a complete picture of the environment they need to navigate.

Once the AVs are put back on the streets, they will continue to observe their surroundings with sensors and the data collected will be used to update the existing maps. Cruise states that “when one of our self-driving cars detects a change, like a new stop sign, the central map is updated and all our cars become aware.”

Rear three quarters view of the Cruise AV.

The map updating will apparently happen in real time on the fly, since Cruise adds that the feedback from the AVs “helps our cars safely navigate complicated situations that don’t show up on maps – like crowds from sporting events or unexpected construction work.” Both of these types of situations caused difficulties for the subsidiary’s robotaxi fleet during its first foray into American streets.

Phoenix, Arizona was recently named as the first city where Cruise will restart its autonomous vehicle operations because the metropolitan government there is favorable to robotaxi operations. The AVs will return to the streets with human safety drivers on board, at least initially, ready to take over in case of a situation the AV can’t handle.

You can watch the video here:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Cruise (@cruise)

Cruise vehicles were pulled off the streets late in 2023 after a robotaxi dragged a pedestrian about 20 feet. A third-party investigation said the AV could no longer detect the pedestrian’s presence, because of its sensor coverage, after she was knocked down and trapped beneath the vehicle.

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Comments

  1. This is good news, also I wish people would report things more accurately to better represent what happened. The person was hit by a human driver running a red light and she was launched under the Cruise car. If you read this article and many others, reporters leave this critical fact out, leaving the reader to believe the cruise AV caused the accident.

    Reply
  2. Whopee……

    Reply

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