Ryan Randazzo

The Republic | azcentral.com

Google is accepting resumes for self-driving-car researchers

The company is mapping Chandler for self-driving cars

The company wants cars that handle 100 percent of driving

Do you have a clean driving record and type 40 words per minute? If so, you might find work as a "Googler" testing self-driving cars in Chandler.

Mountain View, California-based Alphabet Inc., which owns Google, has begun accepting resumes for test drivers who would earn $20 per hour. The employees will gather data in autonomous Lexus sport-utility vehicles, navigating city streets throughout Arizona's tech hub.

The "vehicle safety specialists" will operate the vehicles, which have a driver behind the wheel ready to take over should circumstances warrant. The drivers work in teams, with someone riding in the passenger seat taking notes on a laptop.

"Test drivers play an important role in developing our self-driving technology," said Brian Torcellini, head of operations for Google's Self-Driving Car testing program. "They give our engineers feedback about how our cars are driving and interacting with others on the road, and can take control of the vehicle if needed."

According to the job announcement, Google is looking for people to work on 12- to 24-month contracts in Chandler. The employees will operate the vehicles for six to eight hours a day, recording how the vehicles handle, or don't handle, various traffic situations.

"The role of test driver is so new that there isn’t a particular type of person that we look for," Torcellini said. "We’ve hired people from all types of backgrounds, from English teachers to orbital welders. In general, they need to be excellent drivers who pay really close attention to the road and can predict the social aspects of driving. Local drivers will be great for testing in the Phoenix area because they know the roads and local driving norms better."

Vehicles will gather data

Google announced in April it was using four vehicles to map Chandler streets in preparation for autonomous vehicles to operate there as an expansion of the company's research program.

Company spokeswoman Lauren Barriere said that work is expected to take several months as the vehicles gather data from lasers, radar and cameras to build a detailed, three-dimensional map that allows the vehicles to navigate.

Google reports 34 of its prototype self-driving vehicles and 23 converted Lexus SUVs on the road in Mountain View, Kirkland, Washington, Austin and now Chandler.

The vehicles combined have logged almost 1.6 million miles in autonomous mode and more than 1 million miles in manual mode.

Test drivers must remain on alert in the vehicles and be prepared to take over the controls should the vehicle need an operator. The technology is not yet fully capable of navigating every traffic situation without some assistance.

But Google reports several incidents where autonomous vehicles have successfully avoided collisions when other drivers pull into their lane or run red lights. In its monthly reports, the company details how the vehicles have responded to a variety of situations, from cyclists to people on skateboards being pulled by dogs.

Earlier this year, a Google vehicle driving near the company headquarters moved to avoid sandbags on the side of the road and hit a bus while traveling 2 miles per hour, according to a monthly project update from Google. It was the first time the autonomous vehicles are believed to be partially responsible for a collision.

But most accidents with the vehicles have been caused by other drivers. In April, a vehicle attempting to pass a Google Lexus in Palo Alto by driving on the shoulder of the road nicked the Google car. Also last month in Palo Alto, a Google prototype car was rear-ended at an intersection.

Testing since 2009

The company has been testing the technology since 2009. By 2012, the company's software was performing well enough that Google allowed employees to volunteer to use Lexus vehicles that could travel semi-autonomously on the freeway but not on side streets.

At the time, Google was not intending to develop technology that could operate 100 percent autonomously.

But company officials soon realized that consumers are so trusting of technology that they would not maintain an awareness of traffic as directed. In-vehicle cameras, for example, recorded one worker traveling 65 miles per hour and turning to reach into the back seat for his laptop to charge his phone, according to a monthly report from Google.

"We found people were not paying as much attention to the road because the car was so good," Barriere said.

A 100 percent autonomous vehicle was in order, they decided.

The company wanted to expand to Arizona to test a broader variety of traffic situations and to see how people interact with the technology.

"This is brand-new technology," Barriere said. "We don't know how people will react or interact with it. There's no precedent for it."

Chandler was selected among Arizona cities because of the presence of Intel Corp. and other technology companies, she said.

"We definitely want to be where people are excited about technology in the community," she said.

Mayor: Expect more self-driving cars in Phoenix area soon