Waymo is coming to Toronto. Will its self-driving cars be winter-ready?

That's for good reason, according to Waslander, who says running autonomous cars in the snow comes with all kinds of extra challenges.

Autonomous cars rely on cameras, radar and lidar systems — which map the 3D environment using light — to situate themselves.

Adverse weather conditions can pose a challenge for all of those systems, says Krzysztof Czarnecki, an engineering professor at the University of Waterloo.

What's needed are engineering solutions, including more data gathered by driving cars in poor weather which the Waymo system can be trained on.

Aside from the data, Waymo uses heaters and mini windshield wipers to keep its cameras clear and sensors ice-free.