US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

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jont-
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby jont- » Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:32 pm

Horse wrote:What is LCD for driving? How about "Don't hit anything or anyone, give the passenger a comfortable journey"?

Interesting idea. So if cars are sufficiently autonomous, we can get rid of speed limits, junction markings, traffic lights etc and rely on the computers to sort themselves out?

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akirk
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby akirk » Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:13 pm

ref. stopping for an empty zebra crossing - I think that one of the known issues with the Google cars has been unexpected stopping :)
e.g. stopping because litter was blowing along the pavement by a crossing and the car couldn't tell whether it was a human about to cross - car stops, the car behind runs into it :)

Alasdair

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Horse
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby Horse » Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:39 pm

jont- wrote: So if cars are sufficiently autonomous, we can get rid of speed limits, junction markings, traffic lights etc and rely on the computers to sort themselves out?


Perhaps, yes. Certainly one of the 'autonomous' technologies parallels that: 'platooning' of vehicles. That eliminates much of the requirement for substantial [time-based] following distances.

Another suggestion is that marked 'lanes' might be unnecessary, with queuing vehicles going, four example, four abreast where currently there are three lanes. Motorcylists'll love that :)

Of course, eliminating the requirement to be restrained by a speed limit might allow the machine to be better than current advanced drivers, for example if the autonomous vehicles are better at identifying situations where there are hazards, so where travelling slower is wiser, and in the event of an emergency being better at e-stops.
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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jont-
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby jont- » Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:01 pm

Horse wrote:and in the event of an emergency being better at e-stops.

If it's doing it right [matching speed to expected hazards], it shouldn't need to do any e-stops at all ;) That's until you get the kids playing chicken with the cars that they /know/ can always stop in time :lol:

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akirk
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby akirk » Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:15 pm

Horse wrote:Another suggestion is that marked 'lanes' might be unnecessary, with queuing vehicles going, four example, four abreast where currently there are three lanes. Motorcylists'll love that :)


why wouldn't motorcycles be autonomous as well?! With gyro technology a la segway, should work just fine :)

Alasdair

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Horse
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby Horse » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:55 pm

jont- wrote:
Horse wrote:and in the event of an emergency being better at e-stops.

If it's doing it right [matching speed to expected hazards], it shouldn't need to do any e-stops at all ;) That's until you get the kids playing chicken with the cars that they /know/ can always stop in time :lol:


I think there have already been cases of people 'testing' the Google cars.
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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Horse
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby Horse » Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:43 pm

akirk wrote:
Horse wrote:Another suggestion is that marked 'lanes' might be unnecessary, with queuing vehicles going, four example, four abreast where currently there are three lanes. Motorcylists'll love that :)


why wouldn't motorcycles be autonomous as well?! With gyro technology a la segway, should work just fine :)

Alasdair


'ish'.

I've ridden a very early prototype of scooter equipped with some rider 'aids'. It was not on my Christmas list :)

I only got to try out the auto braking.





PS 14 minutes of your life, there . . .

However, the introduction of electronic aids on bikes is fraught with difficulties. It's not that the laws of physics don't apply, or apply in a different way, to bikes, it's just that bikes and their handling makes a can of worms incredibly predictable in comparison.

For example, ABS has become commonplace on bikes since BMW introduced it across their range in the mid-90s, albeit at first then it was a £600 option!

However, 'normal' ABS on bikes only works effectively when the bike is straight and upright, it doesn't 'work' well in corners (it works to stop the wheels locking, but that's not all that's involved - a bike with wheels locked mid-corner won't simply slide like a car . . . It's only in the last couple of years that 'cornering' ABS has been developed.

It might be stupidly simple to remind readers that 'balance' is fairly important to two-wheelers (whether powered or not), but the way two-wheelers steer and balance is fairly complicated. A 'blunt' intervention of a simple electronics system may not be totally welcome on a bike :)

http://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/te ... ty-control

Now here's something else to consider when thinking about bolting-on a car system-based: when a bike's leaning while travelling around a corner, where's the front 'pointing'? It's less likely to be towards the direction of travel than when the bike is upright and straight! For the same reason, headlights aren't so good on bikes in bends. Now think about where any sensors might be pointing . . . not great if it's about to trigger anti-collision braking :)

Adaptive 'cornering' lighting is just available on one or two models.

http://www.gizmag.com/bmw-adaptive-head ... 0gt/15606/
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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Horse
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby Horse » Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:50 pm

Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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jont-
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby jont- » Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:12 pm

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.

TripleS
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Re: US to invest $4bn in autonomous cars

Postby TripleS » Tue Jan 19, 2016 5:38 pm

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.


Good man - I thought I was the only one here.... :roll:


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