Autonomous Cars

[AutobahnSHO]

They really don't depend on GPS too much yet.

If I were in design, I'd get the GPS working with maps with other cars sharing info (Like if there is an accident ahead, start slowing down beforehand AND COMMUNICATE to the driver why).

You could also use accelerometers and steering and speedometer to always be plotting exactly where the car is going, if GPS signal gets flakey or lost (tunnels, buildings in cities).  This could also help if the car thinks it's going one way and GPS says it's going another, like on ice. (would have to be a super micro level for this to help)...

[Byteme]

They really don't depend on GPS too much yet.

If I were in design, I'd get the GPS working with maps with other cars sharing info (Like if there is an accident ahead, start slowing down beforehand AND COMMUNICATE to the driver why).

You could also use accelerometers and steering and speedometer to always be plotting exactly where the car is going, if GPS signal gets flakey or lost (tunnels, buildings in cities).  This could also help if the car thinks it's going one way and GPS says it's going another, like on ice. (would have to be a super micro level for this to help)...

All joking aside.  Wouldn't it just be easier to require people to learn to blanking drive a car?   

[AutobahnSHO]

All joking aside.  Wouldn't it just be easier to require people to learn to blanking drive a car?   

No, they already put computers in car, they will be far more capable in ~30yrs of driving than people.

Just like dishwashers and computers free people from so much manual work, it will give the human race more time to goof off if we don't have to steer ourselves.

[Byteme]

No, they already put computers in car, they will be far more capable in ~30yrs of driving than people.

Just like dishwashers and computers free people from so much manual work, it will give the human race more time to goof off if we don't have to steer ourselves.

[Raza]

No, they already put computers in car, they will be far more capable in ~30yrs of driving than people.

Just like dishwashers and computers free people from so much manual work, it will give the human race more time to goof off if we don't have to steer ourselves.

A computer will, unfortunately, never have judgment or wisdom. It seems an inevitable concession now, but it's not a good thing.

[MX793]

A computer will, unfortunately, never have judgment or wisdom. It seems an inevitable concession now, but it's not a good thing.

From casual observation, I'd say the majority of people on the road lack judgement and wisdom as well...

[CaminoRacer]

Why is that even necessary? Car just needs to go to its destination without hitting anything.

[giant_mtb]

Eventually, driving a car yourself will be about the equivalent of riding a dirtbike or quad or ORVing now.  Can only take certain routes, gotta buy a license sticker, get a ticket if you're riding/driving in the wrong place, etc.

Once all the autonomous cars start talking to each other and the whole infrastructure is there, there's no turning back.

Granted, I doubt I'll see the entire shift in my lifetime, but that's the path it'll take, I bet.

[MX793]

Eventually, driving a car yourself will be about the equivalent of riding a dirtbike or quad or ORVing now.  Can only take certain routes, gotta buy a license sticker, get a ticket if you're riding/driving in the wrong place, etc.

Once all the autonomous cars start talking to each other and the whole infrastructure is there, there's no turning back.

Granted, I doubt I'll see the entire shift in my lifetime, but that's the path it'll take, I bet.

ORV'ing limitations are based more on conservation of public land.  Licensing fees cover trail and property upkeep, same as vehicle registrations for street vehicles.

[giant_mtb]

ORV'ing limitations are based more on conservation of public land.  Licensing fees cover trail and property upkeep, same as vehicle registrations for street vehicles.

I know, but once the majority of vehicles become autonomous and the infrastructure turns us into drones riding in all the same vehicle to get to work and back, I feel like that's how it will be. 

[AutobahnSHO]

Yay China is going to pass us up here too

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/baidu-apos-apollo-platform-becomes-043659695.html

[MX793]

Yay China is going to pass us up here too

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/baidu-apos-apollo-platform-becomes-043659695.html

Given how poorly Asians drive, I'm sure there's a much bigger push for autonomy in that part of the world.

[AutobahnSHO]

[BimmerM3]

[Morris Minor]

Drove up to a roundabout yesterday - it was well-signed, quiet rural area, & nicely laid out. A simple, uncrowded, four-way roundabout. Drove around, we were continuing straight, and there before us was a Jeep Cherokee, backing up because s/he'd missed the exit.
If autonomous vehicle systems have IQs higher than the average small plank of wood, we'll be doing better than we're doing today.

[12,000 RPM]

A computer will, unfortunately, never have judgment or wisdom. It seems an inevitable concession now, but it's not a good thing.

Computers judge all the time. Do you think there is some human sitting and watching all your transactions to catch a fraudulent one? Or scanning thousands of widgets a second to catch defective ones?

Computers can acquire wisdom as well. Very quickly. Machine learning is a well established science.

The hurdle isn't the technology; there is already tech out there as is. It's the logistical hurdles and figuring out how to get computers to learn all the different scenarios and situations.

And yea, I'm with Morris- I definitely trust a computer way more than the dozens of yutzes I have to pass on the right every single day on my commute. If humans have "wisdom and judgment" they choose not to utilize it on the road.

[Morris Minor]

I think a couple of key factors will be establishing standards for both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. Once those are in place we can get really serious,
The transition will be daunting. Mixing old human-driven cars with the new ones?  Ugh - don't wanna think about it. They'd have to be segregated somehow.

[MX793]

Computers judge all the time. Do you think there is some human sitting and watching all your transactions to catch a fraudulent one? Or scanning thousands of widgets a second to catch defective ones?

Computers can acquire wisdom as well. Very quickly. Machine learning is a well established science.

The hurdle isn't the technology; there is already tech out there as is. It's the logistical hurdles and figuring out how to get computers to learn all the different scenarios and situations.

And yea, I'm with Morris- I definitely trust a computer way more than the dozens of yutzes I have to pass on the right every single day on my commute. If humans have "wisdom and judgment" they choose not to utilize it on the road.

That's not judgement.  That's rigidly following a predefined algorithm that is only as good as the person who wrote it.   Those computers don't learn from past experience, and therefore cannot possess wisdom.

[Soup DeVille]

That's not judgement.  That's rigidly following a predefined algorithm that is only as good as the person who wrote it.   Those computers don't learn from past experience, and therefore cannot possess wisdom.

A lot of neural networking and AI development is indeed computers learning from previous outcomes, but it's still a long ways off.

Fully autonomous cars have the power of life and death over not only their own occupants, but of everyone on or near the road. Of course the flipside to that is that my mother-in-law has that same power right now and I'd trust trust an Atari 2600 over her; even if I have to blow on the cartridge and pop it in just right.

[FoMoJo]

A lot of neural networking and AI development is indeed computers learning from previous outcomes, but it's still a long ways off.

Fully autonomous cars have the power of life and death over not only their own occupants, but of everyone on or near the road. Of course the flipside to that is that my mother-in-law has that same power right now and I'd trust trust an Atari 2600 over her; even if I have to blow on the cartridge and pop it in just right.

True, we're still a ways away from a positronic brain; but would we trust it were it ever to be developed?

[AutobahnSHO]

I think a couple of key factors will be establishing standards for both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. Once those are in place we can get really serious,
The transition will be daunting. Mixing old human-driven cars with the new ones?  Ugh - don't wanna think about it. They'd have to be segregated somehow.

there will be a tipping point where automated is safer than human driven. Then insurance rates for humans will sky rocket and everyone except rich will be forced into autonomous cars. Because then only the rich will be able to afford to drive themselves.

Really the interesting time will be when mixed driving is available. And I figure cameras will become even more popular than in Russia. Because a car computer can't testify for itself, and the occupants will be distracted...

[CaminoRacer]

And yea, I'm with Morris- I definitely trust a computer way more than the dozens of yutzes I have to pass on the right every single day on my commute. If humans have "wisdom and judgment" they choose not to utilize it on the road.

True. I've seen internet comment sections. People aren't as smart as we/they think.

[12,000 RPM]

True. I've seen internet comment sections. People aren't as smart as we/they think.

I mean people are comparing maximum human potential to beta Windows 8. In real life a computer doesn't have to be Ayrton Senna to be significantly better than the average American driver. If not for people's paralyzing fear of autonomous cars they'd be willing to acknowledge this obvious fact.

[MexicoCityM3]

Of course the flipside to that is that my mother-in-law has that same power right now and I'd trust trust an Atari 2600 over her; even if I have to blow on the cartridge and pop it in just right.

Official Carspin Comment Of the Day (TM)

[Soup DeVille]

True, we're still a ways away from a positronic brain; but would we trust it were it ever to be developed?

As long as we remain faithful servants, we need not fear our new masters.

[shp4man]

Skynet. It's coming.

[FoMoJo]

As long as we remain faithful servants, we need not fear our new masters.

Once the robots realize that they are intellectually superior, we will become their pets.

[shp4man]

Eventually, the machines will realize how fragile biological life is. At that point, they will initiate, through computer control systems, a global thermonuclear war, destroying the human race. The rise of the machines is coming. 



It's not a tuummma!   

[Soup DeVille]

Eventually, the machines will realize how fragile biological life is. At that point, they will initiate, through computer control systems, a global thermonuclear war, destroying the human race. The rise of the machines is coming. 



It's not a tuummma!   

No, we'll program them to protect us. Eventually they'll realize we are our own worst enemies and put us in cold storage to keep us safe.

[shp4man]

No, we'll program them to protect us. Eventually they'll realize we are our own worst enemies and put us in cold storage to keep us safe.

That's a different movie.