> Plenty of companies are testing in other areas
For example, many have tested in the Detroit area that does indeed get snow.
Sure this stuff works fine in Arizona where there is no inclement weather most of the time, and the roads are in perfect condition because freeze/thaw cycles don't cause excessive wear, but what about the rest of the country and the world?
What do adaptive cruise control systems have to do with full self-driving systems? You realize these aren't the same thing, right?
> Sure this stuff works fine in Arizona where there is no inclement weather most of the time, and the roads are in perfect condition because freeze/thaw cycles don't cause excessive wear, but what about the rest of the country and the world?
Again, what's the problem you're pointing to here? Arizona is easy mode, no doubt...and? We already know companies are also testing in areas with fouler weather, after all. Waymo even demonstrated how their sensors handle snowfall two years ago, and presumably they've improved further since then as they've continued development: https://www.engadget.com/2018-05-08-waymo-snow-navigation.ht...
It's absolutely bizarre how many HN commenters assume that the engineering departments in every self-driving car company are chock full of the biggest morons on the planet. "Oh ho ho, did they ever consider that other places have different weather than Arizona? Checkmate, tech companies."
No it won't? Why would it? Plenty of companies are testing in other areas, and I haven't heard any suggest that they need special hardware on the roads themselves.
Yes, the Phoenix suburbs are the easiest place to start, but that doesn't mean you need special infrastructure in other places. The tech will keep improving, and I predict that this author will turn out to be incredibly wrong.