Argo AI Expands Driverless Operation to Austin and Miami in Search of More Challenges

The self-driving car company has removed the safety drivers from its vehicles that encounter situations like jaywalkers to build its AI's intelligence.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

May 18, 2022

2 Min Read
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A Ford Escape Hybrid SUV from Argo AI technology on a driverless ride in Austin, Texas.Image courtesy of Argo AI

Autonomous vehicle developer Argo AI is tackling the challenge of operating self-driving cars without safety drivers behind the wheel in two more major American cities, adding Austin and Miami to its existing roster of Pittsburgh, Detroit, Palo Alto, Washington D.C., Hamburg, and Munich.

The company, whose roots go back to the Carnegie Mellon University entry in the DARPA Challenge competition a decade ago, says it sees value in testing its mettle in a wide variety of environments and with a wide variety of vehicles. The aim is to prove Argo’s ability to navigate heavy traffic, pedestrians, and bicyclists in busy neighborhoods.

“From day one, we set out to tackle the hardest miles to drive — in multiple cities — because that’s where the density of customer demand is, and where our autonomy platform is developing the intelligence required to scale it into a sustainable business,” said Bryan Salesky, Founder and CEO, Argo AI.

The company cites five years of work on the Argo Autonomy Platform for its ability to share the road with others without a driver. Consider the challenge faced by Argo autonomous vehicles operating on Lyft’s rideshare network in Miami Beach. The cars navigate complex traffic scenarios including pedestrians walking outside of designated walk areas (95 percent of trips), bicyclists (95 percent), and construction (67 percent). 

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“We engineers can sometimes be so methodical and focused on what’s next to solve, that we fail to see the big picture. For Argo, that big picture is a clear pathway to scale our operations,” explained Brett Browning, Executive Vice President of Product Development and Chief Technology Officer. “Our operations in Miami and Austin remind us that we are leading the way on this path.”

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Argo's AI monitors bicyclists crossing the street.

The challenges of learning to operate in these conditions help the company build its AI so that it can some day take on the task of being able to drive anywhere, he continued. “We’ve focused on analyzing real-world learnings from operating in the busiest neighborhoods of eight cities on two continents, facing complex traffic scenarios, including unprotected turns and intersections with occlusions, cyclists, and people walking outside crosswalks. We also analyzed seemingly endless data to optimize day and nighttime driving, since middle- and last-mile deliveries tend to happen during the day, and rideshares span day and night.”

Argo also considers it important for its AI platform to be compatible with multiple vehicle types. So far, the company has worked very closely with Ford and Volkswagen to follow a systems engineering approach to merging the AI with the vehicles for high-quality, reliable and safe operations. Today’s Argo test fleet includes the Ford Escape Hybrid and Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.Buzz.

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About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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