Bringing Autonomous Vehicles to a Road Near You

Nate Kaiser (MSR '17) is a robotic software development engineer at Zoox, where he and his colleagues are working to solve the unique challenges of autonomous mobility. In that role, he is frequently asked variants of the same question: When will self-driving cars be the norm across much of our society? 

His short answer is not in the near term. However, "it will be sooner than people think," he said.

Two years ago, he offered an in-depth look at how one project he worked on in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Robotics (MSR) program helped prepare him for his current role at Zoox. As a follow-up to that article, Kaiser recently took time to share more about his job responsibilities, the challenges his industry faces and why not placing trust in autonomous vehicles may be a bit misguided.

"I believe autonomy in general, not just autonomous vehicles, will be one of the most impactful technologies of the century." — Nate Kaiser (MSR '17)

How do you like to describe your role at Zoox?

I work on what we call the CLAMS team: Calibration, Localization, and Mapping Simultaneously. Essentially, it's the field of research called SLAM but with a small twist. But I also double as the team's Fun Enforcement Officer(TM), making sure the office remains a little zany and the team is getting their required daily dose of entertainment.

On the Zoox website, it says that "The next generation of mobility is for riders — not drivers." What does that statement mean to you?

I personally love that statement. I don't particularly like driving and would rather be able to enjoy my time daydreaming, chatting with friends, etc. — anything besides having to remain alert and focused on the road at all times in order to feel safe. Every new model year that comes out from any major auto manufacturer has some new sensing technology and some new safety features, which are nice, but they still require me to pay full attention. Zoox's technology is aimed at just that: removing me from the drab and tiresome task of driving.

What differentiates Zoox from other companies focused on autonomous mobility (In June, Amazon acquired Zoox for what the Financial Times reported was more than $1.2 billion.)?

Zoox has remained laser-focused on fully autonomous mobility since day one, and I think that has fostered a cultural mindset where everyone is aligned to the same goals. The resulting lack of internal friction has made it possible for Zoox to accomplish the same amount as the other leaders in the field, but with a smaller team and less funding.

What is it about autonomous vehicles that interests you most?

I believe autonomy in general, not just autonomous vehicles, will be one of the most impactful technologies of the century, freeing people from mundane or dangerous tasks, and instead allowing us to spend our time how we want. Autonomous vehicles are the first big step forward for this space, and I'm excited to be a part of something I see as so obviously beneficial.

What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding by the general public about autonomous vehicles?

There are actually two things I hear from people quite often. The first is "I'm not sure I'd trust a self-driving vehicle to drive me around," to which I think about all of the thousands of people at Zoox, working thousands of hours per year, for many years, in order to ensure it is safe. A human has to take a single 20-minute driver's license exam and can then get behind a wheel and do whatever they want — text, eat, you name it. Any company working toward removing the need for a safety driver will most certainly have extreme confidence in their product before they release it on public roads, whereas we humans get the same blessing having done almost nothing, so maybe our trust is misplaced.

The second thing I always hear is, "So, when will they actually be available? When will I be able to ride in a self-driving car?" I typically explain it's dependent on a ton of factors, and it's not going to be rolled out everywhere overnight, but technically this exists now! If you live in Chandler, Ariz. and meet a few other criteria, you can hail a vehicle with no driver behind the wheel. That day has come, but I understand the question more broadly to mean “when will self-driving vehicles be commonplace?” That's still some number of years away, but it will be sooner than people think.

What is the biggest challenge facing the autonomous mobility industry?

Honestly, at the moment it's just time. There's still a ton of work to do. It's a problem that hasn't been tackled before, and there aren't a ton of people in the world working on it, so it requires some time and more people to enter the field.

You talked about the value of your winter project in your previous post, but in what ways are you able to implement what you learned in MSR into your daily responsibilities?

One thing from my winter project that has really stuck with me is that you must always treat robot data like it's out to get you. It doesn't matter if you're working on a small project in MSR or a multi-million dollar project for a well-known AV company, the data is going to put your code into situations that you can't foresee, and your code is going to have to deal with it in a sensible manner.

What advice would you give to someone considering MSR?

Go for it! Given my background as a mechanical engineer, I was apprehensive that the time it takes to earn a master's degree would be enough time to gain all the skills I would need for a job I really wanted in autonomy. It's definitely a challenging 1-1.5 years, but you'd be surprised the amount you can learn in a short time.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Come join us at Zoox!