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I don't see myself having a self driving car. Ever. What's the point of even having a driver's seat then? I like driving and being involved. I don't use a cell phone when I drive. I have a 6 spd, so that's one reason, but even when I'm driving our automatic SUV's I don't use the phone except in some rare exceptions.
If there's any application where a self driving car might make sense to me, it would be on some ultra luxury car like a Bentley or Rolls Royce, where the owner typically gets driven around by a chauffeur anyway while they sit in the backseat watching tv, using the massaging chairs, and drinking some chilled drinks from the wine cooler.
There are a few of these systems semi-autonomous systems on the market at this time (the new Infiniti Q50 and Mercedes S Class) and Nissan/Infiniti take things a bit further by actually steering the car by a certain number of degrees via the steer by wire setup. Pretty impressive stuff from an engineering stand point!
Actually they are usually working while trying to earn the money to pay for the rolls Royce and the driver.
Nobody makes enough money "working" to buy a RR or a Bentley. They are paid for with capital gains, which accrue while they are driving around in them.
A few years ago the idea of many things now taken for granted were considered unlikely or impractical. Examples include what "phones" and tablets can/will do, home security and automation, self flying planes, space and military apps/weapons, retailing, shopping and cooking...
Technologies like voice recognition, GPS, various sensors, robotics, lasers, etc are combining with software to enable more and more "apps".
Fully "self driving cars" and variations as well as other means of non-participatory transportation will evolve (probably rapidly). Eventually the most practical and effective will become common. Things like this are already in various stages of brainstorming, prototyping, testing, etc. Companies like Toyota, Mercedes, Audi, and even GOOGLE (and therefore their competitors and universities...) are examples of those doing work in the 'auto auto' area. The potential is huge...
The cell phone and texting "problem" just highlights one of the many reasons this stuff will "add value(?)" to the human lifestyle of the future. Some day actually driving a vehicle may be remembered in folklore and history books (uh...not really books I suppose)..."hot rodders" will modify control systems to take shortcuts, accelerrate faster, or exceed the programmed speeds etc.
Long, long before cell phones, the 50's to be exact, there was discussion about one day people would sit in their vehicles and sensors would be embedded in the roads to guide the vehicle through it's journey.
Cell phones had nothing to do with it.
The idea of driverless vehicles has been around a long time.
Bob.
calguy is right, in fact it goes back further than the fifties though, try the thirties. they were touting ths possibility of driverless cars for the fifties at the 1937 chicago worlds fair. in fact, it has been suggested over the decades since that either the cars themselves through computer technology, or more often, robot technology would allow the average person to ride around in their car doing what ever they wish to do.
I don't see myself having a self driving car. Ever. What's the point of even having a driver's seat then? I like driving and being involved. I don't use a cell phone when I drive. I have a 6 spd, so that's one reason, but even when I'm driving our automatic SUV's I don't use the phone except in some rare exceptions.
The point is, even for those of us who like an involved driving experience, there are times when driving is far more of a chore than an involving experience. There is nothing exhilarating about being stuck in stop-and-go traffic for half an hour. Long-distance interestate trips become mundane after a while. Sometimes it would be nice to let the car take over. What's more, the automated systems coming online are not going to be 100% autonomous and periodic driver intervention will be necessary.
It may have been talked about way back when, but the tech for it has only started coming out in the last 10 years. (not including abs and cruise)
true for the most part. VW has been developing the technology since the mid 80s that allows multi car drafts on the freeway with the lead car doing all the driving, and the following cars taking their cue from the lead car. mercedes has also been working on that technology as well. and so has japan. granted it was in its infancy back then, but the technology has taken off in the late 90s what with DARPA and others trying to figure out how to make cars "see" what is going on around them, and to react to what it "sees".
true for the most part. VW has been developing the technology since the mid 80s that allows multi car drafts on the freeway with the lead car doing all the driving, and the following cars taking their cue from the lead car. mercedes has also been working on that technology as well. and so has japan. granted it was in its infancy back then, but the technology has taken off in the late 90s what with DARPA and others trying to figure out how to make cars "see" what is going on around them, and to react to what it "sees".
As I alluded to...a lot of smart people with a lot of increasingly sophisticated technologies, many are tools that act as further technology enablers...and when groups focus on specific problem areas things can move rapidly, at least to the next stopper.
...one day at a time...one small step.
Early on more human 'intervention' and control will be required...but, this could continue to evolve to some very full "auto auto" result...maybe beyond non-experts to foresee.
If by that you mean cars/transportation will continuously evolve until the end of possibility/time, then yes I agree with you.
or If by that you mean the fully-autonomous car, I disagree as there will be regular infrastructure for it by 2050, in my view.
OR if by that you mean the world may end or go into WWIII or apocalypse / dystopia in the next few decades, then yes I agree with you
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