Driverless Cars

[Gale Hawkins]

Oops! Autonomous robot struck and killed by a self-driving Tesla in Las Vegas ahead of CES | Daily Mail Online

I found this to be a bit ironic.

 

[Jstpssng]

Thanks for that info. I could get in and out of the X I think if I had $100K that I would never otherwise need.

Our Week in the Tesla Model X — Cars.com - YouTube

I'm not sure how they call that an SUV, but it is an interesting link. I still haven't figured out how heat, lights, windshield wipers et al affect performance.

An EV could be a great second vehicle when they get the battery power worked out, but they will have to come down in price immensely . (And I'm not big on government funding private purchases) I could make the 200 mile trip to my mother's house, plug it in (I'm already bringing power to my father's old work shop) and be ready to come home the next day.
You could even bring it to your remote camp and use it for a power source at night, although it would need to be charging during the day.

 

[cqaigy2]

Oops! Autonomous robot struck and killed by a self-driving Tesla in Las Vegas ahead of CES | Daily Mail Online

I found this to be a bit ironic.

Funny!

Now if only Tesla had a self driving car.

 

[Reg]

Having been a delivery driver, I don't see the tech anywhere close to the situations I had to face. I've driven across country 22 times. There is no way AI has a better solution. It can't for instance say, It will take the longer route, to avoid a congestion, that is built in to its algorithm. Thats what people can do. I can enjoy the different route, the longer route, even if it doesn't save me time, the other longer route enriches my life. That is something a computer can never do.

I don't know how you got to the conclusion that "AI" can't reroute based on traffic congestion - with real time info it is likely to do a MUCH BETTER job at that than humans who merely intuit that "it is crush hour, so lets take back roads"
I have had street atlas for over 15 years I sometimes pick the "scenic route" option, sometimes "shortest route" sometimes "fastest route", there is a "bicycle route" too.
If I am hauling with more than 8 tires on the road I will usually pick "avoid toll roads" as a trial routing, then decide if I am willing to pay the tolls for the time savings - point is I have choices.
No reason autonomous vehicles couldn't offer similar options, I would expect them to.

Here's a little puzzle that I haven't (yet) seen a proposed solution for;
I would LIKE to have a routing for "smoothest ride", the reason being that I haul horses a lot and bumps represent a fatigue factor.
I route largely by experience to avoid likely stop and go traffic, on/off the brakes is another fatigue factor.
I do NOT use I-95 up and down the east coast for this very reason, I route west of all the coastal cities.
This is EASY with any mapping/routing software, I just add a VIA or two to take me inland, e.g. the Newburg Beacon bridge over the Hudson river.
Autonomous vehicles SHOULD be able to understand instructions of the type;
"Take me to place X via place Y, optimize steady speed above total journey time, pick refreshment stops every n minutes".
Heck I can buy a thousand dollar drone that can pretty much do that and it will return to base if/when it detects that its battery is getting too low to get there.

This isn't a TECHNOLOGY problem, it is an acceptance problem.

 

[sd455dan]

re earlier post re how "close" autonomous vehicles may be.

To misquote my passenger side mirror; Events in the future are closer than they appear.

I believe that all the enabling technologies are already HERE and have been for quite a while.
With the exception of IDIOTS climbing into the back seat to get video of their Tesla "driving itself" public acceptance is lagging.
{Teslas are NOT "self driving", they have some fairly advanced driver assistance features.}
Regulatory acceptance is lagging even more - but legislation has ALWAYS lagged progress - and probably should.
================================================
BTW, I test "drove" a Tesla 3 last week.
I expected a different kind of car, but it was differently different.
First up; The door mirrors were very small - explanation; you're not expected to use them in quite the same way(s).
There is a HUGE tablet in the center that is supposed to be used for a LOT of driver controlled functions and settings - that and voice control, siri style.
I commented that I would prefer that the move away from "dash" instruments be toward heads up display, the test drive sales guy countered that with something about engineering out the "need" to check instruments.
I think I countered with "so why display that stuff on a tablet screen".
It devolved into a safety concern about near focus to far focus being ONE of the problems with texting - I would still prefer head up display of whatever I still need to look at - to keep far focus.


I probably WON'T buy one, it is low to the ground.
I am old, large and inflexible.
It is NOT easy for me to get into or out of, probably harder for my spouse.
Light truck sized SUVs fit us more easily.

HARD to believe that Musk didn't see the WWII baby boomers as a market sweet spot in their retirement years - maybe their NEXXT one will be easy entry/exit ?

Looks like China is making what would sell here... (at least as far as size
-sits higher than a Model X) and is very similar to most US sold mid sized 4x4 Cross over SUVs
sells in China for about 45K in US dollars. Easy entry exit
Buick could import it since SAIC already builds the Buick Envision.

OR better YET GM could retool some of the shuttered plants and build something similar Here

(SAIC ROEWE MG) Marvel X
- I Like the interior is fully wireless connected Level 3-4? autonomy
Has several other nice features
AWD 4.8 sec 0-60 power moon roof and sunshade,seats ~250 mile range

SAIC parent company of STEC has come a long way from building tractors like my (Shanghai) Rhino and basic transportation cars...

don't know how the feature that launches a drone that can be piloted from the vehicle (which is in Beta testing) will go over, also this vehicle is being tested for wireless vehicle charging.

this vid from 4:30 - 7:10 highlights it for India sales

We head to China to drive MG & ROEWE cars from SAIC Motor - YouTube

hopefully Tesla Model Y will make entry exit easier and higher up. getting in low slung cars really is not as easy when a person gets older, and an electric AWD vehicle with some ground clearance for snow and bad roads is a plus imo

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Move aside, backseat driver! New tech at CES monitors you inside car | Reuters

Technology saving us from ourselves?

 

[Reg]

Move aside, backseat driver! New tech at CES monitors you inside car | Reuters

Technology saving us from ourselves?

The collective "us" or the "we" ?
Of course "I" don't want MY car collecting evidence of MY inattentive driving just before "I" plow into "You".

OTOH, I really WANT the evidence that YOUR car has of you running the stop sign at the time at 20 above the limit.

Which shoe on which "other" foot.
etc.


I'd prefer "saving us from each other".

 

[prof fate]

They say the avg person drives 50 or fewer miles a day.
How many miles do you drive per day?

so a car with a 200 mile range shouldn't be an issue for most of us. And again, other than single person households we've all got 2 or more vehicles - so one could easily be electric.

a nissan leaf is about 30k, before any gov't subsidy. the new plus is more, but goes farther. The current leaf is 150 mile range.
219 Nissan LEAF Charging & Range | Nissan USA

And there are used ones from $12k (29k miles)
http://cpo.nissanusa.com/search-inv...ch.carousel.view_results&zip=15066&model=1692

Yeah, may be my next car, or the volt...not sure what else is out there, tesla is outta my price range.

I'm not sure how they call that an SUV, but it is an interesting link. I still haven't figured out how heat, lights, windshield wipers et al affect performance.

An EV could be a great second vehicle when they get the battery power worked out, but they will have to come down in price immensely . (And I'm not big on government funding private purchases) I could make the 200 mile trip to my mother's house, plug it in (I'm already bringing power to my father's old work shop) and be ready to come home the next day.
You could even bring it to your remote camp and use it for a power source at night, although it would need to be charging during the day.

 

[Jchonline]

I think once the autonomous technology advances to the point where cars pretty much drive themselves....we will care much less about the vehicles capabilities. It will be kind of like riding a bus or catching an Uber.

Once that happens, then we wont care if the vehicle is electric or gas or natural gas or anything else.

 

[3930dave]

I think once the autonomous technology advances to the point where cars pretty much drive themselves....we will care much less about the vehicles capabilities. It will be kind of like riding a bus or catching an Uber.

Once that happens, then we wont care if the vehicle is electric or gas or natural gas or anything else.

Business-wise, I find this point very interesting.....

Much of the billions that vehicle companies have made centre around marketing lifestyle products to us "unique individuals".......

So.... what happens to their profit margins when a big chunk of the "driving" public is only using autonomous fleets of appliances ? The corporations that own those fleets are only going to care about 2 things..... Cost, and Reliability.

I'm used to this kind of race-to-the-bottom with electronics companies, but I thought the vehicle manufacturers were smarter than that.....

Rgds, D.