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Author Topic:   Self-Driving Cars
Taq
Member
Posts: 9970
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.6


Message 16 of 28 (688552)
01-23-2013 1:53 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by Dogmafood
01-22-2013 8:47 PM


My first thought was the Audi from I Robot and who wouldn't want one of those?
My first thought is a blue screen of death, heavy on the death.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 10 by Dogmafood, posted 01-22-2013 8:47 PM Dogmafood has replied

Replies to this message:
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xongsmith
Member
Posts: 2578
From: massachusetts US
Joined: 01-01-2009
Member Rating: 6.8


Message 17 of 28 (688553)
01-23-2013 1:55 PM


Lawyers once again in love.

- xongsmith, 5.7d

  
Stile
Member
Posts: 4295
From: Ontario, Canada
Joined: 12-02-2004


Message 18 of 28 (688555)
01-23-2013 2:15 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by Percy
01-22-2013 11:31 AM


Teh Future
Percy writes:
I've only seen a brief description of how these cars currently "see", but there's a device mounted on top that with mirrors directs a laser beam in all directions and then uses the reflected light to figure out where everything is.
Perhaps this is just a simplistic description, or the idea is still in infancy.
But, in order to gain some real steam, the sensing technology will have to deal with many issues. Things like weather and alternative light/laser sources. It will need to be very robust, eventually. Something like a "density sensor/camera/field"... if such a thing can safely exist. Plus it would need multiple redundant devices, in case of damage.
Let's imagine something much more difficult, a car at night with it's lights off under manual control and not in communication with the network or other cars crossing the median and plowing head on into oncoming traffic. Long before the car reaches oncoming lanes the automatically controlled cars will have seen it coming, projected its possible range of paths, and coordinated all their motions to avoid it, including avoidance strategies for other manually controlled cars in the vicinity.
I think the programming/software side of things is ready, and doable at this point. Including necessary processing speed for decision making in real time.
The issue would be getting the data from the input (sensors/cameras... whatever)... reliably and quickly. The speed of input acquisition/analysis will limit the speed of the vehicle. And any "anomaly" data (weather, malfunction...) would need some cool programming in order to filter it out. That will take some time due to trial and error.
But the general prospects and results... I don't see why they couldn't be much as you describe. Personally, I'm all for it. Actually, ever since I was a kid I always kinda dreamed of some sort of auto-travelling function where everything was connected by tubes. People would just get into a capsule, set the destination and then they're off... kind of like vacuum tube messaging in old offices but with people and... not a vacuum for power...
The person would be able to do stuff inside the capsule, or even "release sleep gas" in order to simply rest for the duration of the travel
But yeah, I certainly think it's doable, and practical as well. I think we'll make some progress... but the "full automation" sort of thing will be very slow going.
As for jobs, they won't be lost, just changed.
"Wooden plow maker" used to be a job. It's not a job anymore, but "tractor manufacturer" is a job now.
"combustion engine mechanic" and "traffic consultant" will be jobs of the past one-day. They will be replaced with "electrical maintenance technician" and "program efficiency increaser-dude" one day.
"Electrical maintencance technician" may seem too technical and advanced for some "combustion engine mechanics." But it isn't.
It isn't a matter of being "advanced" or not. It's just different. Different in the same way that "combustion engine mechanics" are "advanced" compared to "wooden plow makers."
As the tools become more prevalent in society, the technology becomes more mundane and approachable by the kids who've grown up with it.
I've been asked if my job will ever become obsolete.
My answer is that I will become obsolete the day that everything works. My boss says that's also when I'll be allowed to take vacation...
I think "jobs" are safe for the foreseeable future.

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Dogmafood
Member (Idle past 348 days)
Posts: 1815
From: Ontario Canada
Joined: 08-04-2010


Message 19 of 28 (688597)
01-23-2013 7:25 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by AZPaul3
01-23-2013 9:18 AM


Anyway, where were you thinking the job losses would come from?
Trucking, couriers, taxis and public transportation I guess would be the big ones. As others point out I am sure that it will change at the speed that we can handle it.

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Dogmafood
Member (Idle past 348 days)
Posts: 1815
From: Ontario Canada
Joined: 08-04-2010


Message 20 of 28 (688599)
01-23-2013 7:38 PM
Reply to: Message 16 by Taq
01-23-2013 1:53 PM


My first thought is a blue screen of death, heavy on the death.
I would equate it to airplanes and that technology is pretty robust. Everything will fail safe so even if it doesn't work it won't likely kill you.
I think that it will start with collision avoidance tech backed by the insurance companies. After you can avoid accidents then it must be easy to just drive down the road.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 16 by Taq, posted 01-23-2013 1:53 PM Taq has not replied

Replies to this message:
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Capt Stormfield
Member (Idle past 455 days)
Posts: 428
From: Vancouver Island
Joined: 01-17-2009


Message 21 of 28 (688625)
01-24-2013 12:04 AM


Oh great. Because people aren't quite disconnected enough from the world around them, any sense of responsibility for dealing with it, or reality in general.
Capt. - Who has never owned a vehicle with an auto tranny and, if there is a God, (no, wait, bzzzzt......) never will.

Replies to this message:
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AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8513
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 22 of 28 (688632)
01-24-2013 12:32 AM
Reply to: Message 21 by Capt Stormfield
01-24-2013 12:04 AM


Don't fret Capt. As long as you have your billybob installed you can still drive your Yugo. Or not drive it. But that's OK. They installed a rear window defroster to keep your hands warm while you push it.

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
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ringo
Member (Idle past 411 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 23 of 28 (688668)
01-24-2013 11:41 AM
Reply to: Message 20 by Dogmafood
01-23-2013 7:38 PM


Dogmafood writes:
Everything will fail safe so even if it doesn't work it won't likely kill you.
There used to be a commercial with a talking GPS (I don't know what they were trying to sell) that went something like this, "Turn left in two hundred yards.... I said turn left.... You're going too fast.... Watch out for that pedestrian.... Don't touch me!"
The smart car might not kill you but I bet it will tell you which radio station to listen to.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 20 by Dogmafood, posted 01-23-2013 7:38 PM Dogmafood has not replied

  
1.61803
Member (Idle past 1503 days)
Posts: 2928
From: Lone Star State USA
Joined: 02-19-2004


(1)
Message 24 of 28 (688679)
01-24-2013 2:10 PM


I want one. Get hammered as you want and sit back and let your car drive you home. Easy Peezy-lemon-squeezy.

"You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1404 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


(1)
Message 25 of 28 (688719)
01-24-2013 6:54 PM
Reply to: Message 22 by AZPaul3
01-24-2013 12:32 AM


bicycle lane tubes
I am rebuilding a 1967 Austin Mini (in my spare time)
One of my reasons for getting it is that there are no green circuit boards in it. None.
Recently I saw an architectural vision for putting bicycle lanes inside elevated tubes above the car lanes in cities. Now I'm thinking that these would need to be ventilated with clean air (or at least cleaner than at street level), and why not have that air pumped at 30mph (50kph) in the direction of the bike lanes, eliminating wind resistance and making it easy for cyclists to travel around cities at the same speeds as the cars. The air pumps could be powered by wind\solar systems (or augmented by them), and so using bikes would reduce vehicle congestion AND pollution.
Then you use buses to take your bike between cities.
That would be smart eh?
Enjoy.

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
Rebel American Zen Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


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This message is a reply to:
 Message 22 by AZPaul3, posted 01-24-2013 12:32 AM AZPaul3 has replied

Replies to this message:
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 Message 28 by 1.61803, posted 01-28-2013 3:57 PM RAZD has seen this message but not replied

  
AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8513
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 26 of 28 (688758)
01-25-2013 7:56 AM
Reply to: Message 25 by RAZD
01-24-2013 6:54 PM


Re: bicycle lane tubes
Until the cyclist in front takes a dive and at 50 mph the others can't stop (not having "smart bikes") and the pile up is so violent it crashes through the tube spilling dozens of bikers onto the road where they are run over by the smart cars that have no programming to avoid bikers falling from the skies causing a major pile up on the road bringing traffic to a halt resulting in my being late for dinner. Bad form. Very bad form.
Then there is the matter of the ventilation system. Why should the bikers get better air then the rest of us?
"Let them breathe smog!"
I think a constitutional challenge under the 14th Amendment could be made claiming bikers would be a special protected class with the right to cleaner air than the rest of us.
Other than that, yah, it is pretty cool.
Edited by AZPaul3, : the usual culprits

This message is a reply to:
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ringo
Member (Idle past 411 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


(2)
Message 27 of 28 (688906)
01-26-2013 12:04 PM


BillyBob Goes Hunting
BillyBob's smart monster truck drives itself by GPS to the selected hunting ground. It deftly snips the barbed-wire fence and drives through. Using a sophisticated array of motion detectors, heat sensors, sonar, etc., it locates its prey. The turret swings around. One clean shot and Bambi's mother is down. The carcass is winched up onto the truck where BillyBob's iSausageMaker is conveniently waiting. On the way home, the air horns blare Dixie and stop signs are automatically shot out with simulated glee.
BillyBob's attendance is, of course, entirely optional.
Edited by ringo, : Selling.

  
1.61803
Member (Idle past 1503 days)
Posts: 2928
From: Lone Star State USA
Joined: 02-19-2004


(2)
Message 28 of 28 (689163)
01-28-2013 3:57 PM
Reply to: Message 25 by RAZD
01-24-2013 6:54 PM


Re: bicycle lane tubes
I put a tarp over my 1956 vw deluxe beetle. The 40 hp motor was no longer a match for these modern 0-60 in 5 second cars. I found myself waiting at intersections for ages. The lack of seat belts and no motor up front with a big gas tank was also a concern. But I must say once I got up a head of steam on the highway she would do 75 very comfortably all day long.
Edited by 1.61803, : spelling

"You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs

This message is a reply to:
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