A realistic assessment of self-driving cars (2015, school, campers)

[abalashov]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/op...ving-cars.html

"... a drumbeat of announcements auguring the imminent arrival of robotic cars, almost as though they were the next generation of iPhones. The breathless statements are especially beguiling for members of the public without the engineering background required to understand the challenges that remain. In other words, most people.

...

Motorways and freeways are the low-hanging fruit of autonomous driving; everyone is moving in one direction at the same relative speed, and there are no pesky pedestrians to get in the way. Much of what is passed off today as 'autonomous driving' is some variation of this sort of advanced cruise control."

[primaltech]

Advanced cruise control/a good 'autopilot' mode, is all we really need. I don't think we need to take away the human driver, but rather we just need to enhance the driver with assisting computers and detectors and communications, enhance the car experience by making it less stressful/demanding to drive (because it's doing more things for you), and enhance safety.

I can foresee a relatively near future, where we're all still driving around (with more taxis also), but computers are handling much of the act of driving, especially the tedious elements. And they're assisting people, making them much better drivers. Like, you can just hit a button on your touch screen on your dash, and it lines you up for a parallel park for you, and parallel parks you perfectly. Or even with just regular parking. And, you'll definitely have an autopilot mode for the highway, where you're only overriding it with manual driving if you want to.

I think those kind of cool and helpful advancements will be in a majority of cars on the road within a few decades. But I think totally driver-less robot roads will take a whole lot longer, if we ever really even get there, or choose to get there.

[ATLJR]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Advanced cruise control/a good 'autopilot' mode, is all we really need. I don't think we need to take away the human driver, but rather we just need to enhance the driver with assisting computers and detectors and communications, enhance the car experience by making it less stressful/demanding to drive (because it's doing more things for you), and enhance safety.

I can foresee a relatively near future, where we're all still driving around (with more taxis also), but computers are handling much of the act of driving, especially the tedious elements. And they're assisting people, making them much better drivers. Like, you can just hit a button on your touch screen on your dash, and it lines you up for a parallel park for you, and parallel parks you perfectly. Or even with just regular parking. And, you'll definitely have an autopilot mode for the highway, where you're only overriding it with manual driving if you want to.

I think those kind of cool and helpful advancements will be in a majority of cars on the road within a few decades. But I think totally driver-less robot roads will take a whole lot longer, if we ever really even get there, or choose to get there.

The big issue, as you'll note in the article, is that agencies are already considering future plans that implies a self-driving car future, more advanced than the one you described above.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by ATLJR

The big issue, as you'll note in the article, is that agencies are already considering future plans that implies a self-driving car future, more advanced than the one you described above.

Parker has stated that MARTA is keeping tabs on the tech, and considering how it might benefit the agency.

[ATLTJL]

The second someone is killed by a self-driving car, it will end. I don't see this happening.

Just think, with the scandal from Vokswagen, are you really ready to put your life in the hands of technology from an auto manufacturer? We'll never see this in a meaningful way. The speeds are too high and there are too many unknowns that a computer can't be programmed to handle. Even if it could, fear won't allow it.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

The second someone is killed by a self-driving car, it will end. I don't see this happening.

Really? Guess you missed the news about the first death in an autonomus car happening a couple weeks ago: https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/tragic-loss

This will not be the last death, unfortunatly. But the technology is already safer than human drivers and will only get better after improvements are applied to the entire system after each incident.

[MattCW]

Until car makers can protect their EXISTING vehicles from this: https://www.wired.com/2015/07/hacker...-jeep-highway/
They don't need to be making vehicles fully autonomous. There must be an air gap (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gap_(networking)) between ANY wireless communications systems and any critical vehicle systems.

[ATLTJL]

I saw that, but I don't consider Teslas fully self-driving.

Just wait. Part of self-driving cars is self-driving trucks. One day, a self-driving tractor trailer is going to kill a bus load of school age campers or something and regardless of who is at fault, that's going to be the end of that.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by primaltech

I think those kind of cool and helpful advancements will be in a majority of cars on the road within a few decades. But I think totally driver-less robot roads will take a whole lot longer, if we ever really even get there, or choose to get there.

This is the key word. They're going to have a big uphill battle convincing everyone that they have no need to ever control their vehicle. Outside of jsvh and a small sampling of others, few people believe that there will almost never be a need to take control of the vehicle, nor would they want to give up that option.

[primaltech]

The big things I can imagine, that are probable as well, is an optional autopilot mode with automatic acceleration/deceleration/braking/lane maintaining/distance maintaining, that makes commuting and long trips more comfortable and smooth- and also automatic emergency turning or maneuvering to avoid collisions. And an autopilot parking and pulling out of parking system.

So, at any point you can tap the accelerator or brake, to take over and disengage autopilot. And you can steer and change lanes at will while it's in autopilot acceleration, and it smartly finds the new lane and keeps you in the lane. Your driver seat might back up a little bit, but it should't be so far back that you can't quickly take over the driving in an emergency.

The key challenge is that the driver needs to stay awake, and somewhat alert and aware. They can be looking at Facebook or on a video conference call while the car is in autopilot, but still need to be mostly hands free to be able to take over.

Also I think the road needs to be communicating with these vehicles somehow, telling your car precisely where the lanes are, how many lanes, how wide the lane is, where the lane ends, where it turns into a turn only lane, etc etc. And information like that there is a stop sign ahead, a traffic light around the next corner, or that there is a wreck on this highway up ahead, and advise you with an alert to exit and take a detour.