Waymo announced two new research and development facilities to help it advance its Waymo Driver autonomous driving system across multiple vehicle platforms and environments.
Waymo is working with the Transportation Research Center to co-develop what it says is a first-of-its-kind testing environment that will model a dense urban environment, including heavy-duty vehicles, and it’s opening a research and development facility in Menlo Park, California, to focus on advancing its fifth-generation Waymo Driver on Class 8 trucks.
The company said that together, these new facilities will enable it to further advance the latest generation of the fully autonomous Waymo Driver across multiple vehicle platforms, including the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace and Class 8 trucks, while scaling up testing programs and operations across a diverse set of geographies and driving environments.