Are you ready, here they come!

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Perhaps we should just eliminate humans and have everything be autonomous.

The threat of a SAG strike would eliminate that possibility...

[cbaber]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I wonder why people are worried by this and want to resist the inevitable?

If you look at major polls and surveys on the issue, about half of drivers are skeptical about an autonomous system. In one poll I found, 75% of respondents said they do not trust an autonomous system to take their kids to school. 60% said that a computer system doesn't have better decision making ability than humans. In another major poll 42% of respondents said autonomous cars were a bad idea, with 33% saying it was a good idea. Furthermore, people see a clear privacy risk, with over 70% believing private companies and the government could collect and abuse driving data with an autonomous system.

There are large implications not yet realized. An autonomous system would collect location data and would be stored on a network, vulnerable to abuse by the government, private companies, and hackers. Just like Google collects your search data to deliver advertisements to you on the internet, there is a real possibility marketers and even automakers would take advantage of the data being collected by the car. And a large autonomous system would be a good target for hackers.

Another issue is the cost of such a system. Cities, counties, and states are barely able to build and maintain the road system, now they have to reinvent the wheel and implement/maintain a complex autonomous driving network.

I can see the benefits, but it's not all blue skies and sunshine. There are many disadvantages and problems that will be created by a system, and that is why a majority of people are at least skeptical or concerned about losing the freedom to drive to the government.

I like driving. I would not want to lose the ability to drive older cars. And there are a lot of people who feel this way. I think everyone should have a say, it's not a one-size-fits-all approach that should be used.

[user removed]

How do you program intuition and situational awareness? Can a computer see the big rig with the disintegrating tire 200 yards ahead of you and know that a disaster is about to happen, or a falling tree that is about to hit your roof. How about a tire&wheel flying towards you that is 40 feet in the air.

regards
Mech

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

How do you program intuition and situational awareness? Can a computer see the big rig with the disintegrating tire 200 yards ahead of you and know that a disaster is about to happen, or a falling tree that is about to hit your roof. How about a tire&wheel flying towards you that is 40 feet in the air.

regards
Mech

To be fair, 98% of drivers on the road don't see these either....

*sigh*

[NachtRitter]

A computer will do a better job at projectile avoidance than a human. Given that the vast majority of drivers do not seem to have any situational awareness at all, I'd lay my bet on a computer for that too...

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by cbaber

Another issue is the cost of such a system. Cities, counties, and states are barely able to build and maintain the road system, now they have to reinvent the wheel and implement/maintain a complex autonomous driving network.

What has to be changed on the road system to support the autonomous driving network? I may have missed it...

I agree that security & privacy will need to be addressed...

[user removed]

Originally Posted by darcane

To be fair, 98% of drivers on the road don't see these either....

*sigh*

Oh how true, but that still allows ME to avoid THEIR stupidity. Did that on my bike yesterday, gal pulls over into me but I was not quite beside her (intentionally) so she just got a horn to notify her of her mistake. I generally avoid being next to people, if possible. Will a computer do that? Only if it is programmed to do that.

There is no way any CPU can duplicate human intuition and anticipation in driving, at least not MY anticipation and intuition. A good example is observing the vehicles around you for potential issues that could be catastrophic, or something like adding separation when others are not, unless your automated car can see through steel.

Misaligned wheels, vehicle crabbing
Obvious defects potential falling parts
Last second swerves into your lane

Would it be an improvement over the clueless 98%? Sure. Would it be able to take compound issues like sitting at abusy intersection and seeing that you are about to be seriously rear ended and you blast out of the way in heavy traffic and do it safely.

And to even think that you will see the Interstate highway system in the US overhauled to accomodate an automated vehicle only lane would probably cost more than the current national debt.

Just let Fed EX deliver you by drone.

5 million per vehicle 100 million vehicles, 500 trillion in bond. That's about 6 times the total net worth of the whole USA.

Much cheaper to build vacuum tube transportation system.

regards
Mech

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Oh how true, but that still allows ME to avoid THEIR stupidity. Did that on my bike yesterday, gal pulls over into me but I was not quite beside her (intentionally) so she just got a horn to notify her of her mistake. I generally avoid being next to people, if possible. Will a computer do that? Only if it is programmed to do that.

Will a computer pull over into you? No, because there will be no blind spots for it. Will it honk the horn if someone starts to pull over into your lane? Sure, no reason it couldn't. Will it avoid being next to people? Probably not, though it will more likely notice potential hazards sooner than most of us.

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

There is no way any CPU can duplicate human intuition and anticipation in driving, at least not MY anticipation and intuition. A good example is observing the vehicles around you for potential issues that could be catastrophic, or something like adding separation when others are not, unless your automated car can see through steel.

Misaligned wheels, vehicle crabbing
Obvious defects potential falling parts
Last second swerves into your lane

Would it be an improvement over the clueless 98%? Sure. Would it be able to take compound issues like sitting at a busy intersection and seeing that you are about to be seriously rear ended and you blast out of the way in heavy traffic and do it safely.

You are right; it would not have the same kind of intuition an aware driver like you would have. But for those other drivers that would prefer to text, call, eat, read, drink (alcohol), etc (often together) rather than be aware, their use of this kind of technology would make our lives safer... even if the aware drivers like you continue to drive "normal" cars.

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

And to even think that you will see the Interstate highway system in the US overhauled to accommodate an automated vehicle only lane would probably cost more than the current national debt.

Just let Fed EX deliver you by drone.

5 million per vehicle 100 million vehicles, 500 trillion in bond. That's about 6 times the total net worth of the whole USA.

Much cheaper to build vacuum tube transportation system.

regards
Mech

Not sure where the idea that the highway system must be overhauled is coming from... the current generation of autonomous vehicles requires no modifications to the roadways...

The autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles can coexist. That's what's impressive about the latest self-driving cars. You don't want one? Fine, they'll work in a heterogeneous mix of autonomous & non-autonomous cars... there is no co-dependency. Don't want your taxes to go toward autonomous-specific upgrades? No problem, they need no special roads. Even if you are against owning one, once they become available to the public you will likely benefit.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this become available for long-haul trucks and local delivery/pickup vehicles fairly soon. Garbage trucks which pick up the dumpsters ought to be relatively easy to do, for example.

[cbaber]

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

What has to be changed on the road system to support the autonomous driving network? I may have missed it...

I agree that security & privacy will need to be addressed...

Autonomous intersection management. If most of the efficiency advantages of 100% autonomous cars are going to be realized, the current infrastructure needs to be replaced with equipment designed to work with computers, not humans. Rather than stop lights, intersections will be controlled by a server that communicates with the autonomous vehicles. Rather than wait on a signal light to proceed, the cars send requests to the server and then receives instructions. Think of it like a computerized air traffic control system. The server instructs all cars through the intersection and can allow more efficient traffic flow.

And then there is the issue of the consumer cost. Google's fleet vehicles have about $150,000 of technology that allows them to drive autonomously in the current infrastructure. The price of the technology will go down as it is better adapted and there is more demand, but we are a long way from an affordable autonomous car.

[ecomodded]

I am curious as to the Ultimate goal for these autonomous vehicles . once they are all up and running then what ? I don't get it , do they hope to take jobs from people with them ?