Automated Cars Are Not Able to Use the Automated Car Wash

We’ve been cautiously optimistic about the progress of autonomous driving. The miraculous technology is there, but implementing it effectively is an arduous task of the highest order. A prime example of this is how easy it is to “blind” a self-driving vehicle’s sensors.

TTAC’s staff has had its share of minor misadventures with semi-autonomous driving aids, be it during encounters with thick fog or heavy snow, but truly self-driving cars have even more sensitive equipment on board — and all of it needs to function properly.

That makes even the simple task of washing a self-driving car far more complicated than one might expect, as anything other than meticulous hand washing a big no-no. Automated car washes could potentially dislodge expensive sensors, scratch them up, or leave behind soap residue or water spots that would affect a camera’s ability to see.

According to CNN, automakers and tech firms have come up with a myriad of solutions to this problem — though a man with a rag and some water appears to be the most popular. Toyota, Aptiv, Drive.AI, May Mobility, and Uber have all said they use rubbing alcohol, water, or glass cleaner to manually wash the sensors, before carefully finishing the job with a microfiber cloth.

Avis, which has been tasked to tidy up Waymo’s autonomous fleet, elaborated on the process further. “There are special processes that definitely require a lot more care and focus, and you have to clean [the vans] quite often,” Avis chief innovation officer Arthur Orduña told CNN in an interview. “We give them the premium level of service that I don’t think any vehicle globally is getting.”

While it’s more than just a little ironic that these automated vehicles require gobs of attention and pampering from human hands just to function correctly, some companies are working on a way around it. General Motors’ Cruise has said it will design and implement sensor-cleaning equipment in production vehicles.

SEEVA Technologies, a small startup that seems to have a better handle on this issue than some established manufacturers, is also developing equipment to help alleviate the problem. It currently has a unit that heats washer fluid for windshields, but hopes to adapt it for sensor cleaning. Still, Seeva CEO Diane Lansinger believes something entirely new is needed to treat the multitude of sensors required for autonomous driving.

“For self-driving technology to scale, we can’t have engineers paid $150,000 a year, running around the vehicles and wiping them down,” she said. “It’s going to be quite awhile before we get away from the manual care.”

That’s a pretty solid assessment. Considering the majority of drivers have to cope with seasonal conditions that leave snow and/or road salt caked onto their vehicles after a few minutes of driving, something will need to be designed to help clean up those trouble areas while on the move. Otherwise, automakers will have spent billions of dollars developing a technology that doesn’t work without obsessive levels of careful maintenance.