Want to see how fast autonomous vehicle ASICs have improved, look no further than the California disengagement data

Back in 2019 we looked at the California disengagement data as part of look at the challenge self-driving cars faced over the coming years. There was a lot of variation in success with Google’s Waymo (please excuse the pun) way out in front with 11,018 miles on average per disengagement (ie the test driver grabbing the steering wheel).

 

As automotive ASICs play a crucial role in the decisions the car makes, we thought we’d take a look at the improvement since then.

It is impressive.

 

 

The leading AV system maker (now GM/Cruise) made travelled 863,111 miles with only 9 (nine) disenagements. Adding to the impressiveness, 8 of these were to prevent an accident caused by other drivers, and just one incidence where a “Precautionary takeover to address planning; lane keeping” was made.

 

And yes, like 2019, there are huge levels of variation between the disengagement rates of the system developers, there have been huge improvements all round.

Waymo is now at 17,060 miles per disengagement.

Zoox has gone from 1923 miles to 26,292 miles per

disengagement. The full data is below, with graphs showing

1) Miles per disengagement for all autonomous vehicle system developers and types of fault*

 

2) A breakdown showing the proportion of each class disengagement**