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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:52 pm
by waremark
jont- wrote:
Horse wrote:http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/2002.pdf :)

Sounds like my attempt to start a friends Merc a few months ago. Couldn't work out what bloody combination of key, pedals, gearbox the stupid POS needed to actually start (and no, it wasn't because it had "stop/start"). At least stopping it was easier.

And then an Audi hire car (auto) where the stop/start would cut the engine /every/ time you wanted to get going at a roundabout, making that nice gap unsafe resulting in a stomp on the brake, when it would cut out again. Downright bloody dangerous. :evil:

/luddite.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to understand the workings of the technology in an unfamiliar vehicle.

In many stop start implementations, a touch on the accelerator while still holding the car on the brake will start the engine and have you ready for a quick getaway. In some, a reduction of the pressure on the foot brake will do the same.

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:44 pm
by TheInsanity1234
jont- wrote:
Horse wrote:http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/2002.pdf :)

Sounds like my attempt to start a friends Merc a few months ago. Couldn't work out what bloody combination of key, pedals, gearbox the stupid POS needed to actually start (and no, it wasn't because it had "stop/start"). At least stopping it was easier.

I recall one of my teachers got a 2010 Mini, and she spent a few minutes in it attempting to start it because it had one of those mini keys which are very difficult to insert into their holding things, and then required the car to have the clutch pedal pressed down and the brake pedal before it would respond to a prod of the start button.

I'm sure the autos were easier to start :lol:

And then an Audi hire car (auto) where the stop/start would cut the engine /every/ time you wanted to get going at a roundabout, making that nice gap unsafe resulting in a stomp on the brake, when it would cut out again. Downright bloody dangerous. :evil:

/luddite.

I'm certain on Audis amongst others would stop the engine only if you exceeded a certain pressure on the brake pedal, so if you decreased the pressure slightly, it'd start the engine.

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:10 am
by Mr Cholmondeley-Warner
Autonomous cars, eh? What next...? :mrgreen:

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 8:45 pm
by fungus
That would suit my daughter. She likes Waitrose.

Nigel.

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 10:37 am
by xpc316e
I see autonomous vehicles as a vanity project by makers. They are developing the things, merely because they can and for no better reason. I have yet to meet anybody who has expressed a desire to own one of the things. Will there be driverless cars that one can summon to come and collect you from the pub when you are too drunk to walk home? I think not; they will need someone there to take control when they fail, and fail they will. Even a light dusting of snow, which would not bring about any insurmountable problems to a competent driver, would play havoc with a driverless car. It would not be able to 'see' white lines, etc., and just give up the ghost. What will a driverless car do when it meets a truck delivering in a narrow street? Will it put two wheels safely on the footway and get past, or will it sit there because driving on the pavement is a no-no? Will you be able to ask it to get its finger out and do a few overtakes if you are late for an appointment? Has anyone developed a driverless car that can overtake? There are so many unanswered questions.

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 11:25 am
by ancient

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 11:35 am
by jont-
ancient wrote:You're right, it'll never happen https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg ... this-year/.

"Even the cheapest Corolla will not smash into the car in front, says Pratt." :lol:
Bet it will in the wrong conditions (like winter, when the car in front has winter tyres and the Corolla owner has fitted ditch finders).
It's sweeping statements like that that really don't help the cause.
Toyota doesn't have the best history on bug free software either.

And why is all the data the car collects not owned by the car owner? Who gives toyota the right to upload and process it? Are they going to be paying the drivers for doing R&D for them? What about when the database gets hacked and causes privacy problems.

And "In the UK alone, 17,000 people are killed every year on the roads. " is out by a factor of 10. FFS, call itself a respectable publication :roll: :evil:

Meanwhile tell me why we still have meat-sacks pushing levers on trains/tube when if we can manage autonomous cars?

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 2:53 pm
by Strangely Brown
jont- wrote:Meanwhile tell me why we still have meat-sacks pushing levers on trains/tube when if we can manage autonomous cars?


RMT

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 3:36 pm
by ancient
Ever been on Docklands Light Railway?

Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 5:19 pm
by akirk
ancient wrote:Ever been on Docklands Light Railway?


Yes, and I don't think there has ever been a strike there over working conditions :D

Alasdair