In theory, as storage costs approach 0, computers get faster and and vision becomes more sophisticated, road conditions shouldn't matter too much.
These cars are going to be scanning constantly in nice weather, it shouldn't be a stretch to then figure out relative position with GPS and then use the distance to 'known' trees / signs / landmarks from previous trips to determine lane position.
I'm sure there are barren areas where this would be tough (I've driven I-80 through snowy Nebraska about a dozen times en route to ski vacations in Colorado) but "stay between the snow banks" should be a decent start for autonomous driving.
These cars are going to be scanning constantly in nice weather, it shouldn't be a stretch to then figure out relative position with GPS and then use the distance to 'known' trees / signs / landmarks from previous trips to determine lane position.
I'm sure there are barren areas where this would be tough (I've driven I-80 through snowy Nebraska about a dozen times en route to ski vacations in Colorado) but "stay between the snow banks" should be a decent start for autonomous driving.