# 123. Augmented Bad Drivers Turbocharge Autonomous Vehicle Development

- Show: [The Next Byte Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast)
- Published: 2023-05-23
- Length: 20m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development
- Listen: https://the-next-byte-wevolver.simplecast.com/episodes/123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development-oZfrh7kz

## Summary

Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss research from the University of Michigan that uses mixed reality to accelerate autonomous vehicle (AV) testing. By superimposing virtual 'bad driver' vehicles onto real physical cars on the MCity test track, researchers can simulate rare safety-critical events without real-world risk. This approach, leveraging data from smart intersections in Ann Arbor and Detroit, reduces the required testing miles by 99.99%, addressing the 'curse of rarity' in AV training data. The hosts highlight how this method lowers costs and time while improving safety for companies like Waymo, Tesla, and Cruise.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=0) Introduction and Sponsor: Mauser Electronics
- [3:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=187) The Problem: The Curse of Rarity in AV Testing
- [6:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=382) Current Industry Data Gaps: Waymo and Tesla
- [7:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=460) University of Michigan's Mixed Reality Solution
- [10:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=618) Adversarial Networks and Bad Driver Simulation
- [12:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=751) 99.99% Reduction in Testing Miles
- [14:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=894) Stress Testing and Regulatory Confidence
- [15:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=941) MCity Test Track and Remote Access
- [18:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-05-23-123-augmented-bad-drivers-turbocharge-autonomous-vehicle-development#t=1094) TLDR Summary and Conclusion

## Topics

- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- University of Michigan (company)
- Waymo (company)
- Tesla (company)
- Cruise (company)
- MCity (other)
- Ann Arbor (other)
- Detroit (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep. 22 | Cruise's Sr. VP of Engineering, Mo ElShenawy, on Developing Autonomous Vehicles](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2021-04-15-ep-22-cruises-sr-vp-of-engineering-mo-elshenawy-on-developing-autonomous-vehicle) (Moore's Lobby)
- [Episode 136: Making driverless vehicles smarter - Shimon Whiteson](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-12-05-episode-136-making-driverless-vehicles-smarter-shimon-whiteson) (Robot Talk)
- [S6E40 Matt Puchalski | Vision Inspection, Autonomous Vehicles, & Graduating Y Combinator](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-10-03-s6e40-matt-puchalski-vision-inspection-autonomous-vehicles-graduating-y-combinat) (Being an Engineer)
- [Episode 81: Vision for self-driving cars - Vassia Simaiaki](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-04-19-episode-81-vision-for-self-driving-cars-vassia-simaiaki) (Robot Talk)
- [Crushing the AV Dream | Can You Hear Me Now?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2020-02-21-crushing-the-av-dream-can-you-hear-me-now) (EE Times Current)

## Citing this page

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