Will self driving cars actually work? Really?

frodoz737 said: ↑

I'm sure our Grand-kids will love their "Johnny Cars". Hell, they might even have an affordable Jetson's car for the masses by then. All things are possible in time, even probable if there's a profit in it, however knowing the demographics here, "most of us" will likely never own a totally autonomous car. Then again...I am could be wrong. ​

GrumpyCabby said:
Is this when they eventually crack nuclear fusion and the world lives in peace?

You win, all bets are off then.

Actually, it might be one of the next "self entitlement" vehicles. You know, one of those..."everyone should get out of the way or off the road because me and my car are better and safer than you/yours"...things.

Seriously though, my post #30 and dhanson865's comment above are probably close to the mark, just a matter of when.

 

When a drunk gets behind the wheel of a driverless car - the car could drive the drunk home. If the drunk becomes demanding to drive, the car could drive itself to the nearest police station.

How cool is that?

DBCassidy

 

That would be very good. Someone call the Google software folks.

 

Here's a BBC piece on the ethics of self-driving cars, written by a non-driving Brit who currently lives in New York:

BBC News - A Point of View: The ethics of the driverless car

The article says that the French are working on a system called SARTRE, an acronym for "Safe Road Trains for the Environment". After noting that this "is a perfect tribute to the great French philosopher who ran his own ethical cafe-convoy, leading his zombie-like followers from absurdity to absurdity over many decades," the author muses on other ethical possibilities for autonomous vehicles:

"There would be an Ayn Rand model ethical engine, named after the Russian-American free market fanatic, which would use chip technology to scan the bank account of each pedestrian, calculating their net worth, swerving to miss the makers, and mowing down a taker or two - who needs 'em? And there would be its technical relation, the Richard Dawkins model, which would use portable MRIs to heat-seek and discover which pedestrians you distantly share genes with, while steering you directly into the ones who are, alas, no relation. There could even be a Woody Allen ethical engine, which would start apologising as you press on the gas, and continue all the way home, and a Ludwig Wittgenstein model, which would announce wearily that there is no motor in the car anyway - all there is, is the activity of driving."​

 

Deja-vu

 

And, no surprise....

Self-driving cars irresistible to hackers, warns security executive

Researchers have already hacked a normal car, so how what are the risks once self-driving cars reach our roads?

Self-driving cars irresistible to hackers, warns security executive | Technology | theguardian.com

 

Sorry 'bout that!

 

It could well be that society (in whatever guise) will decide that this is exactly where we need them. Cars that can negotiate rights of way on-the-fly will drastically reduce the accident rate in places like this. Planes have manual control but under adverse conditions they go to automated systems.

 

Assuming all the drivers know proper roundabout etiquette, sure. But negotiating a roundabout where an intersection used to be seems too much of a challenge for far too many people. Mind you, some drivers seem challenged by intersections, too.

Driver education is just as important as road design.

 

A small, 4 way one replaced a 3 way light here. Back ups were worse than with the light. It got better, but there are still people not yielding when they should or yielding in the circle when they shouldn't.

They can work, but the general level of driver skill here doesn't seem to be up to it when they are confronted with one.

 

Our town fathers (who aren't married to our town mothers....) installed a rotary recently.
Only two of the four roads are currently open at the time of this posting, but I'm thinking of buying several park benches and getting a license for a popcorn and hotdog stand.

If you've never witnessed American drivers trying to negotiate a newly installed roundabout then you're missing out on one of life's great joys.
I'm a big fan of rotaries myself, but the reason that Americans cannot seem to deal with them is pretty obvious.....

 

hey, if it is a single lane rounabout replacing a 4 way stop sign I'm all for it, I consider those fun.

I just don't want to be in a 400 car traffic jam roundabout.

 

I saw a blurb on pbs on more aware cars. NHTSA seems to be in favor of them as do the automakers. I'm not sure if that is commented on above. lasers and cameras can warn drivers and even take over. If obstacles and other cars transmit speed and location, they can warn or run around the accidents with your car. Definitely accident avoidance is a step we need in anticipation for selfdriving cars. They mentioned the elderly, and more are driving, could more safely navigate the city, without losing the freedom of a drivers license (I advocate retesting to get rid of the bad old drivers, we couldn't talk my grandfather into giving up his license until he totalled his car. Luckily there were only minor injuries.), but do it without imperiling others. The car could also take over in cases of distracted driving which seems to account for at least 20% of fatalities on US roads. I see self driving cars getting the green light first in some asian country where the government can mandate it more easily.

I don't find them fun, but definitely a well deigned one as you mentioned can work bettery than lights. We have many poorly designed roudabouts in this country. One by me requires me to get on the sidewalk when on my bicycle as it seems to direct weary drivers to turn into bikes.

 

Didn't think any airlines were approved for cat IIIc. Cat III with a 50' DH is the lowest I've experienced.

 

Right, because each of the airline (operational procedures), aircraft (capability, equipage) and pilots (recency, currency, confidence) must be approved to accept and execute a precision approach of any type. Given the very few times a IIIc would be required, it hasn't been judged cost-effective by the bean counters running flight and airport ops and by regulatory flight standards check to maintain this level of facility, let alone the experience. Many IIIb, but the IIIc box (if shown) is ticked "N/A"

The circa 1980s British Airways L1011 fleet theoretically had this capability, as did the Trident of the 1970s. I am not aware of any currently certificated IIIc (zero-zero) approach, in part because of the cost-benefit, in part because with zero RVR how do you confidently taxi your wide-track whale precisely on centerline to the gate? GPS with WAAS and moving maps aren't confidently precise, and I seriously doubt anyone will venture to taxi on ground control commands -- "a little left, whoa, initiate 45 right *now*, OK stop short of the active, OK, now cross", etc.