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THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Discussions of conventional and alternative energy production technologies.

Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 13:45:26

Michael Bloomberg’s plan to get cities ready for self-driving cars

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The program, called the Bloomberg Aspen Initiative on Cities and Autonomous Vehicles, includes Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles, Paris and Buenos Aires, along with five other cities to be added this year. The cities will have access to data and coaching from urban planners and technologists meant to help them prepare for self-driving cars and use them to address city challenges.

... "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for cities to address some of their most challenging issues, from pedestrian safety to carbon reduction to economic mobility," said James Anderson, who leads the government innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Automation is poised to transform the labor economy as some workers are replaced by robots. Dense urban centers are likely to be served by roving driverless cars that work for ride-hailing services. And smarter vehicles that can communicate with one another may lead to reductions in congestion and car crashes.


How Will Self-Driving Cars Change Cities?

... Goldman Sachs predicts North American auto sales could be almost 60 percent autonomous by 2030, divided between “limited self-driving” cars, which may require driver control during difficult conditions (like encountering highway maintenance) and “full self-driving” cars, which can drive alone in all situations.

... The Rocky Mountain Institute, a sustainability think tank in Boulder, Colorado, argues that AVs will quickly challenge the private ownership model. In a report released in September, RMI calculates that self-driving cars will make automated taxi service in cities as cheap, per mile, as personal vehicle ownership. Jon Walker, a manager at RMI and co-author of the report, anticipates that autonomous vehicles’ superior use of road space—optimal acceleration and spacing, for example—will unleash a wave of urban transformation. Even if the number of cars on the road doubled, he argues, traffic would still move faster.

Sharing the backseat with strangers could be a crucial factor in keeping traffic from exploding. One OECD study found that shared, autonomous cars in Lisbon—in combination with a good public transit system—could cause peak-hour traffic to fall by two-thirds.

Large numbers of streets could be decommissioned and reused as promenades, parks, and sites for housing. Most downtown parking could also become obsolete. The average car is parked 95 percent of the time, and parking spots are required, at great cost, in housing, retail, and office construction. San Francisco, to take a city not famous for car use, has 250,000 free, on-street parking spaces. Given what land is worth in San Francisco, that’s an unfathomable subsidy for private car ownership and an enormous waste of space.


Pedestrians walk freely in a world of self-driving cars

Imagine an urban neighborhood where most of the cars are self-driving. What would it be like to be a pedestrian?

In a new study published online Wednesday (Oct. 26) in the Journal of Planning Education and Research, Millard-Ball looks at the prospect of urban areas where a majority of vehicles are "autonomous" or self-driving. It's a phenomenon that's not as far off as one might think.

"Autonomous vehicles have the potential to transform travel behavior," Millard-Ball says. He uses game theory to analyze the interactions between pedestrians and self-driving vehicles, with a focus on yielding at crosswalks.

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... "Pedestrians routinely play the game of chicken," Millard-Ball writes. Crossing the street, even at a marked crosswalk without a traffic signal, "requires an implicit, instantaneous probability calculation: what are the odds of survival?"

The benefit of crossing the street quickly, instead of taking a long detour or waiting for a gap in traffic, is traded off against the probability of injury or even death. Pedestrians know that drivers are not interested in running them down—usually. But there is the chance a driver may be distracted, drunk, or a sociopath.

Self-driving cars are programmed to obey the rules of the road, including waiting for pedestrians to cross. Secure in the knowledge that a car will yield, pedestrians merely need to act unpredictably or step into the street to force the risk-averse car to stop.

... "From the point of view of a passenger in an automated car, it would be like driving down a street filled with unaccompanied five-year-old children," Millard-Ball writes.


China issues roadmap for development of self-driving vehicle market

Oct 26 China has issued a long-term roadmap for the development of autonomous driving vehicles, with the aim to commercialise highly or fully autonomous driving vehicles by as early as 2021, an official body said on Wednesday.

The 450-page roadmap, issued by the official Society of Automotive Engineers of China, lays out the blueprint for the development of the industry until 2030.

Officials said earlier this year the draft would be released to set out technical standards, including a common language for cars to communicate with each other and regulatory guidelines.


Ford, Jaguar Land Rover Test Connected and Self-Driving Cars in UK

Ford and India’s Tata Motors, parent of Jaguar Land Rover, are testing cars in Britain that can “talk” to one another, drive themselves, skip red lights and even help locate a parking space.

The system, named Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory, has been engineered to minimize emissions and maximize fuel efficiency.


Michigan may boost penalties for hacking self-driving cars

... The Michigan Senate unanimously passed a pair of bills Thursday that would increase the penalties for interfering with the computer systems of autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles.

Currently, there is a 10-year sentence and $50,000 fine for anyone who tampers with the computer system of a driverless vehicle that results in injury. The new bill would increase the penalty to life in prison if the interference with the computer system resulted in death.

The law wouldn't apply to auto manufacturers or licensed mechanics who are servicing the car. If it's found that the tampering could be or was reversed without any injury to the car's owner could be subject to a misdemeanor charge carrying a 93-day jail sentence and a maximum fine of $500.


Army Tests Self-Driving Supply Trucks

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Video - Otto and Budweiser: First Shipment by Self-Driving Truck

... The head of the Colorado Department of Transportation was in the overnight convoy early on October 20th, which wasn't publicized ahead of time.

"It was completely flawless,” said Shailen Bhatt, CDOT’s Executive Director. “It was one of the more exciting and boring things that I've ever done. I was in the 5th vehicle behind the truck and it's just like watching any other semi going down the road, except this one stayed right in the middle of its lane the whole, the whole way down.

Image - Image


Knoxville mayor to consider self-driving car testing

KNOXVILLE (WATE) – Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero is exploring the possibility of the city becoming the next test site for connected and self-driving vehicles.

“We may have a unique opportunity to build a new industry right here in Knoxville led by companies like Gridsmart,” said Mayor Rogero in a statement. “While this is just a discussion, we’ll have the right people in the room to consider the viability of this opportunity.”

Gridsmart Founder and CEO Bill Malkes says the company’s intersection cameras could one day be used with self-driving cars.

“They’ll help the cars that are autonomous and have this technology be able to communicate and interface with cars who are still legacy and don’t have that,” said Malkes.

Right now the technology can be used with connected vehicles.

“In between autonomous vehicles and where we are today, there’s going to be connected vehicles and that’s where the vehicles talk to one another and talk to the infrastructure,” said Malkes. “We’re part of that infrastructure.”


Inside NVIDIA’s New Self-Driving Supercomputer Powering Tesla’s Autopilot

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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby Tanada » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 14:01:00

GHung wrote:
Subjectivist wrote:
Newfie wrote:What meaningful work do we have set aside for all the newly displaced workers?


Nancy Pelosi says we will become Artists and Preformers.


Do you have a source for that quote? And what is a "Preformer"?


It was kind of a big deal when she said it, I am surprised you don't remember.

The House Democratic Leader appeared alongisde House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), to celebrate the health care law that was passed two years ago Friday.

“You want to be a photographer or a writer or a musician, whatever -- an artist, you want to be self-employed, if you want to start a business, you want to change jobs, you no longer are prohibited from doing that because you can’t have access to health care, especially because you do not want to put your family at risk,” she said.


http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/pel ... e-whatever
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby GHung » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 15:53:12

"It was kind of a big deal when she said it, I am surprised you don't remember."

I don't consider much that Pelosi says a big deal. Must have missed it.
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby Subjectivist » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 16:11:21

GHung wrote:"It was kind of a big deal when she said it, I am surprised you don't remember."

I don't consider much that Pelosi says a big deal. Must have missed it.


It was back in 2010 during the run up to the vote on national health care reform. She said with health care provided we would no longer have to work at awful jobs but could dedicate ourselves to artistic pursuits or whatever we wanted to do with our lives.
II Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 16:37:46

Tanada wrote:
GHung wrote:
Subjectivist wrote:
Newfie wrote:What meaningful work do we have set aside for all the newly displaced workers?


Nancy Pelosi says we will become Artists and Preformers.


Do you have a source for that quote? And what is a "Preformer"?

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/pel ... e-whatever

Really?

I'm surprised an educated person like you subscribes to such biased unadulterated bullshit.

Tanada wrote:... It was kind of a big deal when she said it, I am surprised you don't remember.

The reason no one noticed was because it wasn't a big deal or any deal at all (see below) and because cnsnews.com has a history of lies, omissions, mischaracterization or just plain making shit up.

MediaMatters FactCheck: Over 55 cases of lies or misrepresentations by cnsnews.com : http://mediamatters.org/networks-and-ou ... com?page=1

What was the essence of what Pelosi actually said? That healthcare reform would be good because it would make insurance available and affordable for people who don't receive health care from their employers.


https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/cns-news/

CNS NEWS

Image

RIGHT BIAS
These media sources are highly biased toward conservative causes. They utilize strong loaded words(wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage conservative causes. These sources are highly untrustworthy.

Notes: Founded by MRC Chairman L. Brent Bozell III. Strong right wing bias is present in virtually every article.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/cnsnewscom/

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/cnsnews/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNSNews.com

CNSNews.com was founded by L. Brent Bozell III on June 16, 1998, under the name Conservative News Service and the domain name http://www.conservativenews.org.[3] According to Bozell, the website would "report news ...not touched by traditional television news outlets" and "fill the growing news void left by the establishment media in their chase for the sensational."[3]

CNSNews.com's editor from 1998-2005 was Scott Hogenson, who took a leave of absence in November, 2003 to serve as the director of radio and online operations for the Republican National Committee in the 2004 election cycle.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 17:28:55

Add two more jobs to the bonfire ...

The world's biggest meat producer is planning to test out robot butchers

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In one of Scott Technology's "lamb boning rooms," a production line of about a dozen robots strips meat from 600 carcasses an hour. Automated arms clamp onto pieces of raw lamb, while others wield guillotine-style blades or small knives to cut through them. You only need one human to oversee the process.

The New Zealand-based robotics company is developing fully-automated meat processing bots, which can extract different cuts from lamb, pig, and beef carcasses. Many meatpacking companies believe using this type of technology (rather than human workers) will make processing more efficient.

The robotics company is working with JBS to develop beef and pork processing bots for the US, Scott Technology's CEO, Chris Hopkins, tells Business Insider. JBS will soon test Scott's machines in some of its lamb plants in the US, though JBS declined to comment on any specifics.
"Our goal is to have them in all the plants for beef and pork worldwide," ... "But we're only going to get to that point if we can continue to improve the safety and the yield — and do it with a lot less people."

In Scott's lamb boning rooms, the robots worth together to form an assembly line. Each one performs one specific step of the process.

Image

The first robot takes X-rays and a CT scan of the carcass, which generate a 3D model of its shape and size. Based on what the system sees in the model, another bot drives rotary knives between the ribs and cuts through the hanging carcass, using the spinal chord as a reference point.

There's also a bot that sorts the cuts and moves them to specific conveyor belts, and another that weighs them, packages them, and gets them ready for shipping. On average, the bots make the correct cuts and wrap the pieces with 90% accuracy.

Many meatpacking plants use automated machines, but Scott Technology's automated systems are unique because they use artificial intelligence, Hopkins says. Unlike most machines, which use a pre-programmed carcass outline, Scott's bots look at the shape of each individual carcass and make specific cuts accordingly. The technology's algorithms also use deep learning, which means the bots can become smarter over time as they collect data about the carcasses they encounter.

Guess they'll just have to practice on cows till SkyNet takes over.

Robot painter can save time, manpower

Video - The PictoBot, invented by scientists from the Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Robotic Research Centre, can spray-paint high interior walls 25 per cent faster than two workers.

Currently, painting these walls requires at least two painters in a scissor lift. The PictoBot, which can run for four hours on one battery charge, requires only one human supervisor and can even operate in the dark.

The principal investigator of the project, Professor Chen I-Ming, director of the NTU Robotic Research Centre, said the PictoBot has a higher quality of finish compared with current painting methods.

"Painting large industrial spaces is repetitive, labour intensive and time-consuming," said Prof Chen. "The autonomous behaviour also means that a single operator can handle multiple robots and refill their paint reservoirs."

Image
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late.
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby Newfie » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 17:51:20

Subjectivist wrote:
Newfie wrote:What meaningful work do we have set aside for all the newly displaced workers?


Nancy Pelosi says we will become Artists and Preformers.


Bertrand Russel said the same thing in 1933. I think they will become unemployed deplorables like they have in the past.
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby Newfie » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 17:53:52

GHung wrote:
Subjectivist wrote:
Newfie wrote:What meaningful work do we have set aside for all the newly displaced workers?


Nancy Pelosi says we will become Artists and Preformers.


Do you have a source for that quote? And what is a "Preformer"?


Performer = porn star ( indie style) 8O
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby Newfie » Wed 26 Oct 2016, 17:56:26

Hawkcreek wrote:
GHung wrote:
Subjectivist wrote:
Newfie wrote:What meaningful work do we have set aside for all the newly displaced workers?


Nancy Pelosi says we will become Artists and Preformers.


Do you have a source for that quote? And what is a "Preformer"?

Someone who gets stuff ready prior to the actual forming.
Come On, Ghung, everybody knows that.


We'll, to be exact, that's a "fluffer."
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Thu 27 Oct 2016, 16:29:49

Google’s self-driving cars set to become an autonomous business

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Google’s self-driving car project will soon be graduating from its experimental “X” lab to become a standalone unit of the parent company Alphabet, a possible precursor to spinning out as an independent company.

John Krafcik, chief executive of Google’s self-driving car division, told attendees at the Nikkei Innovation Forum in Palo Alto on Wednesday that the unit was “partway through” the same process that Alphabet’s healthcare subsidiary Verily went through last year.

“The car is partway through what we call a graduation,” he said. “We are moving out of X … The self-driving car project, like Verily, will soon be its own independent entity in the world.”

... As rival Uber has pressed ahead with its pilot of an autonomous taxi service in Pittsburgh, some observers have questioned whether Google has lost its early lead in the market.

Yet Mr Krafcik suggested that Google’s technology was already at an advanced state. “We do have a plan” to launch an autonomous driving product, he said. Within 22 weeks of striking a new partnership with Fiat Chrysler in May to develop a fleet of self-driving minivans, Google was able to complete its first prototype.
The vehicles will be fully autonomous from the get-go, ... Simply "press a button and tell the car where you want to go"

“We are in that mode right now where we are solving the last bits of the problem before we are able to share the technology with others,” Mr Krafcik said at the Nikkei event. “Right now we are at the phase where a lot of what we are doing is polish and making the car drive a lot more like a human.”

“We are not building a car. Our focus is building a better driver,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of discussions with a lot of different automakers on that.”


Sacramento could be among first to test fleet of self-driving vehicles

Sacramento will be among 16 select cites meeting next month to discuss ways to harness new technologies, including autonomous vehicles, as part of a new national study effort called the Smart Cities Collaborative.

We definitely see the future of autonomous vehicles and want to wrap our arms around it and make sure it is safe and equitable for the city of Sacramento,” city planner Fedolia Harris said. “We want to be at the table. We want to contribute to early discussions. What are the big issues? How does it affect economic development?”

Harris is one of several local officials who rode in a Google driverless car along with Google engineers on Interstate 5 between Richards Boulevard and North Natomas during a demonstration last year, and said he came away a bit “freaked out,” but impressed with how well the car did in traffic and how far self-driving vehicle technology has come.

Other cities include Austin, Texas; Denver; Boston; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Los Angeles; Nashville, Tenn.; Portland, Ore.; and San Jose. The 16 were among more than 70 cities that had competed for the federal grant ultimately won by Columbus.


Google self-driving cars to hit the streets in more Phoenix-area cities

Google is expanding its self-driving car program from Chandler to nearby areas of Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe and Gilbert.

For now, the Lexus SUVs and Google prototype cars driving in Arizona, Mountain View, Kirkland, Wash. and Austin, have drivers who can take control when needed and passengers who record how the cars handle tricky driving situations.

"As we’ve driven through Chandler, we’ve experienced everything from extreme heat to watering trucks, five-stack traffic lights and our first haboobs (dust storm)," spokeswoman Lauren Barriere said. "It’s these unique experiences that brought us to the Valley in the first place, and it’s what’s helping our engineers improve our self-driving capabilities every day."

She said the testing has already expanded to parts of the four nearby cities.


After Driverless Cars, Singapore To Test Self-Driving Buses

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Qualcomm to buy NXP Semi for $38B in massive play on self-driving cars

With plans to insert itself in the driver's seat for a slice of the self-driving car market, Qualcomm said Thursday it has agreed to acquire NXP Semiconductors for about $38 billion.

Qualcomm said it would pay $110 per share for the Dutch company, which commands 14% of global automotive semiconductor sales. It expects the deal to close by the end of 2017.


Report: Self-driving cars and others that freak out at car washes

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14 brands of cars that need help at the automatic carwash

Cars that are self-driving or equipped with automatic braking systems may come to a halt in the middle of the carwash because they can't distinguish between a giant soft brush and a brick wall.
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Fri 28 Oct 2016, 12:19:23

Autonomous Cars Could Determine Your Driving Style by Gently Probing You

When every car on the road is an autonomous car, we won't have to worry about what kind of driver everyone else is. Before that happens, there's going to be a very long and messy period where autonomous cars will be sharing the road with human drivers. It'll be important for autonomous cars to understand and predict what the humans around them are trying to do, which is a very difficult problem, because humans are notoriously irrational: we all have different intentions, goals, preferences, objectives, driving styles, and we may or may not be looking at our cell phones.

At UC Berkeley, researchers have come up with a way for autonomous cars to actively gather information about the human drivers around them. All it takes is a little gentle probing.

Generally, robots gather information about humans passively: they watch what humans do, take notes, and try to use those data to predict what humans will do next. A more active approach would involve trying to find ways to get the humans to take actions that would generate the information that the robots need. That sounds a bit complicated, but it's something that we human drivers do all the time. For example, if you're at a four-way stop and it's technically not your turn to go but you're not sure if the other driver is paying attention, you might inch forward a bit to see how they react.

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The Solution to Aggressive Driving

Here are some examples of the kind of actions that the algorithm plans for autonomous cars to determine whether the human drivers around them are passive, aggressive, or paying attention:
Scenario 1: Nudging In to Explore on a Highway

The autonomous car actively probes the human by nudging into her lane in order to infer her driving style. An attentive human significantly slows down (timid driver) or speeds up (aggressive driver) to avoid the vehicle, while a distracted driver might not realize the autonomous actions and maintain their velocity, getting closer to the autonomous vehicle.

Scenario 2: Braking to Explore on a Highway

The robot slows down to actively probe the human and find out her driving style. An attentive human would slow down and avoid collisions while a distracted human will have a harder time to keep safe distance between the two cars.

Scenario 3: Nudging In to Explore at an Intersection

In the active condition, the autonomous car nudges into the intersection to probe the driving style of the human. An attentive human would slow down to stay safe at the intersection while a distracted human will not slow down.

It's interesting to think about how data like these could be used beyond just the scenarios in which they get collected. For example, if autonomous cars consistently notice that particular humans drive aggressively, perhaps they could label them as such, and share that information with other autonomous cars, or even with other human drivers. Or insurance agencies. And, you know, maybe suggest that they get counseling.


Here’s How Self-Driving Cars Will Transform Your City

Israel firm wants super-efficient engine to power car revolution
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Tue 01 Nov 2016, 11:54:50

Britain's first self-driving cars will be unmarked so aggressive drivers don't bully them

Britain's first self-driving cars to be driven by ordinary people will not have any markings due to fears that aggressive drivers will try and bully them. The Observer reports that Volvo is planning a pilot project in 2018 that will lease vehicles to regular Brits that are capable of driving autonomously.

"From the outside you won’t see that it’s a self-driving car. From a purely scientific perspective it would be interesting to have some cars that are marked as self-driving cars and some that are not and see whether other road users react in a different way," Volvo technical leader Erik Coelingh told the paper.

Is Coelingh just being paranoid? Perhaps not. A recent study found that more aggressive drivers are looking forward to seeing self-driving cars on the streets because they believe they will be able to take advantage of how scrupulously they will follow the rules of the road to cut them up and overtake them.

Image - Image


Insurers and automakers puzzle over risks of self-driving cars

With autonomous cars set to conquer the market, the question remains: who is liable during crashes?

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said the company will not be liable if the car is involved in a crash while in self-driving mode. A spokeswoman for the company confirmed that Musk said insurance companies will have to pay for the damage should the cars be involved in accidents.
“I think one should view autonomous cars much like an elevator in a building. Does Otis take responsibility for all of the elevators around the world? No they don’t”

... The clock is ticking on this issue, as self-driving cars are expected to descend on the market en-masse by 2018 to 2019, according to auditing firm KPMG.


Japan insurers prepare for age of self-driving vehicles

Japan’s top insurers are studying new products to brace themselves for the age of self-driving vehicles that could redefine insurance premium burdens for carmakers as well as car parts makers and technology companies.

Industry studies have forecasted a steep decline in car insurance premiums as the number and severity of accidents fall with the emergence of autonomous vehicles.

But Japanese insurers MS&AD and Tokio Marine say the transition to driverless technology also brings opportunities with the increasing costs to repair cars, the emergence of new risks and changes in the way insurance will be bought.

“With the mix of self-driving vehicles and traditional cars, there is a possibility that unforeseeable accidents will occur. We expect the weight of new types of insurance products for new risks such as cyber attacks will increase significantly,” said Hideyuki Sakashita, manager at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance.


GM's Plan For Self-Driving Cars Sounds Incredibly Bleak

General Motors has laid down a pretty bleak plan for its first self-driving cars, pretty much in direct opposition to the Tesla business model.

The giant American corporation’s CEO, Mary Barra, has said that its first fully self-driving cars will have “speed limitations” and won’t be able to operate outside pre-set geographical boundaries, while new Tesla models will optionally come with all the necessary hardware for full automation – even if owners can’t use it yet.

According to Fortune in the US, the General Motors vision for self-driving cars starts in a “controlled ride-sharing environment.” The firm has recently invested $500 million in on-demand ride service Lyft, with the intention of adding autonomous cars to the fleet. GM is also launching its own car-sharing service, called Maven. But either way, you can keep your filthy human hands off the controls, buddy.

Customers won’t even be able to buy the self-driving GMs. As well as being restricted on the road, the cars will only be leased by those early-adopters who prefer their autonomous cars slow and undemanding, as opposed to those who like them to hit 60mph in 2.7 seconds. In the wet.


Toyota to pilot Smart Key Box technology with ride-hailing start-up

Toyota Motor Corp will pilot its new Smart Key Box technology in fleets used by U.S. car-sharing service Getaround next year, stepping up its push to benefit from new mobility services seen by some as a threat to traditional car ownership.

The world's biggest automaker confirmed last week that it has invested in San Francisco-based Getaround, adding to the partnership it has with Uber Technologies to lease vehicles to the ride-hailing giant and accelerate mobile technology research.

Among the features of the Smart Key Box technology to be piloted with Getaround is the ability to control doors and start engines via a smartphone, Toyota said.


Autonomous Vehicle Slide Presentation

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” - Henry Ford
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby litesong » Tue 01 Nov 2016, 13:58:20

We bought a new sweet car for sub-$13,000 & other good new cars have been sold for less than $10,000. Sure glad to hear that self-driving cars will also be below $10,000. What you say? They won't be. There won't be any manual transmissions either? What's goin' on?!!!
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Wed 02 Nov 2016, 11:48:18

litesong wrote:We bought a new sweet car for sub-$13,000 & other good new cars have been sold for less than $10,000. Sure glad to hear that self-driving cars will also be below $10,000. What you say? They won't be. There won't be any manual transmissions either? What's goin' on?!!!

Buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, 'cause Kansas is going bye-bye!"

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So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh

Sorry Mr Cabbie, I'm waiting for the self-driving revolution

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Yeah, take it away, Ernie! Fasten your safety belts, clench your buttocks! It's going be a bumpy ride!

Various countries are testing self-driving vehicles. Johan Nylander's taxi experiences in China make him hope the era of autonomous cabs is nigh.

As soon as we drove from the airport onto the highway leading into Beijing, I realized the taxi driver was, shall we say, inexperienced. For one, she only drove at half the speed of the other cars. And each time she changed lane, she hesitated before suddenly shooting in, avoiding crashing into another car by millimeters. Each time, she smiled nervously in the rearview mirror.

But her lack of driving skills became most evident when she took a wrong turn and got stuck in a narrow lane in one of the old hutong areas, not far from the Bell and Drum Towers. We reached a dead end, and when she tried to back out of the lane she drove into a stone wall and scraped the side of the car.

The same thing happened on her second attempt. It was obvious we were stuck against the wall, but still she kept pressing the gas, with a painful screeching sound. Again, she smiled nervously at us in the rearview mirror.

Finally, my wife leaned over to her and asked if I should drive the car instead. I was afraid it would embarrass the driver, but apparently not. “Oh, that would be so kind of you,” she said. So I got in the driving seat, put it in gear and drove the taxi out of the hutongs. I let the meter run.

This little episode is just one example of how traveling by car is neither as simple nor as safe in China as in most other places. Video

China has more drivers than any other country — and its roads are far from safe. According to a 2015 global study in The Lancet medical journal, road injuries have emerged as the third leading cause of death in China, and are at a higher rate than the world average.

One of the reasons is that unlike in the West, where people learn to drive in their teens, most people in China take to the road at a later age and without much practical experience.

State-controlled media has also reported rising taxi accidents because of cab drivers using taxi-hailing apps while driving. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 700 people on average are killed in road accidents across China every day.

The taxi incident in the Beijing hutong is far from the only weird passenger experience I have had in China. Many times I’ve been dumped at the wrong hotel – a common trick when the driver can’t be bothered to find the right one. On another occasion, a taxi driver robbed my wife during her first visit to Guangzhou.

But the most unbelievable taxi incident occurred during a bachelor party in Dongguan, a factory town in south China. I only knew one of the other guys invited, and we were the only English speakers.

To warm up we played a dice game at a local karaoke bar, in which the loser had to chug a small glass of beer. Basically, it’s a game of fast drinking. One of the guys was already quite well oiled when we started the game and he kept losing, and drinking, more than anyone else. His speech slowly turned into a slur.

When we later headed out on to the street to go to the next venue, we got into an empty taxi that was parked outside the karaoke bar. When the driver opened the door and climbed into the taxi my jaw dropped –the familiar face belonged to the same guy who had been losing the drinking game all night.

It was his taxi, and he was the driver. As we held on tightly, his voice came from the front, “Hold on,” as he lit a cigarette and drove us into the night.

Yeah, take it away, Ernie! Fasten your safety belts, clench your buttocks! It's going be a bumpy ride!

I couldn’t help thinking that a self-driving taxi would have been a much more comfortable – and safer – option.


Kia’s vision of autonomous cars is a private jet on wheels

When the car drives itself, what do the occupants do? That’s the question Kia is pondering with its latest concept, the Soul First Class, which not only does away with the steering wheel but turns both of its cosseted passengers away from the direction of travel.

Kia describes it as “an upscale inter-city chariot” targeted at high-power executives who want to get things done while on the move. To that end, it borrows ideas from luxury private jets, with the usual room for five repurposed for just two people. They sit where the dashboard would normally be found, facing toward the rear of the car.

In front of them is a 40-inch Samsung TV, hooked up to a Mac Mini and a surround sound audio system. Between them is a center console which motors out to reveal a pair of tablets. They’re used to navigate through the infotainment system as well as instruct the autonomous car where to go, ... surrounding occupants with touchscreen displays, social networking, and augmented reality appointed versions of the landscape passing outside

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Let Them Eat Cake.


Yahoo Plans 'Smart Billboards' That Watch and Listen To You

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The patent describe a billboard that has sensors including cameras, microphones and even retina scanners built in or positioned nearby.

Those billboards in the movie Minority Report, the ones that watch you, listen as you speak, then address you by name? They're on the drawing board at Yahoo. You can look at this product as another form of "targeted marketing," like when the google sends ads your way based on the latest text in your gmail account. Or you can look at it as a way for a company to profile you as completely as possible when you move around in public — connecting your public behavior with all of your other stored behaviors — then do anything it wants with that information.
Yahoo, under fire over this week’s revelation that it helped the federal government spy on its users, has applied for two related patents describing a camera-equipped billboard that can spy on drivers.

The patent applications, submitted in March 2015 and made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, describe a billboard that has sensors including cameras, microphones and even retina scanners built in or positioned nearby.

“Image or video data may be processed to determine whether any individuals looked directly at the advertising content (e.g., using image recognition and/or eye tracking techniques),” said the patent documents, which use much of the same language in describing the technology.

Verbal reactions by passersby could be collected via microphones. “Audio data captured by one or more microphones may be processed using speech recognition techniques to identify keywords relating to the advertising that are spoken by members of the audience,” the documents said. “Image data or motion/proximity sensor data may be processed to determine whether any members of the audience paused or slowed down near the advertising content, from which it may be inferred that the pause or slowing was in response to the advertising content.

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‘Various types of data (e.g., cell tower data, mobile app location data, image data, etc.) can be used to identify specific individuals in an audience in position to view advertising content. Similarly, vehicle navigation/tracking data from vehicles equipped with such systems could be used to identify specific vehicles and/or vehicle owners. Demographic data (e.g., as obtained from a marketing or user database) for the audience can thus be determined for the purpose of, for example, determining whether and/or the degree to which the demographic profile of the audience corresponds to a target demographic.’

So, a billboard that watches and listens inside every passing car to the best of its ability, then matches what it sees and hears with vehicle navigation and tracking systems (like Onstar?) — and certainly the DMV data, right? — as well as with "demographic data" from "marketing or user" databases.

Welcome to ... what? A world in which you're always monitored, in which you're basically an extension of the state, if by the "state" we mean "the collective corporate-political super-entity that pretends to hold open elections from time to time, but regardless of that, can't ever be stopped or dismantled."


The concept of constant surveillance leading to near-perfect compliance on the part of the watched is not a new one. Jeremy Bentham designed a prison, called a Panopticon, describing it this way: ...


Ford and BlackBerry are working together on autonomous cars

... BlackBerry announced that it will dedicate a team of engineers to work on the Ford project. The team will work to expand the reach of QNX as well as BlackBerry's Certicom security technology. Despite its falling phone market share, BlackBerry mobile devices have been some of the most secure available. This is particularly important as fears of car hacking continue to rise.

Ford wants to have a fully autonomous ride-sharing fleet on the road by 2021 and have a consumer product ready by 2025.


MasterCard has entered the car

Mastercard is partnering with General Motors and IBM to integrate payments into OnStar Go, a new AI-powered version of GM’s OnStar system.

The system is designed to learn from users’ behavior and then bring them personalized offers from third-party partners. Mastercard is one such partner, and the integration of Masterpass technology into OnStar Go means that users will be able to purchase and pay from affiliated merchants directly in the OnStar Go platform. The system will be available with all new GM vehicles beginning in 2017.

BI Intelligence expects that 381 million connected cars will be on the road in 2021, up from 34 million this year. It’s likely that in-car payments will follow — 20% of executives that they believe people will pay for things through their cars in two years. Mastercard jumping onboard via the OnStar partnership, which will expose in-car payments and Masterpass to over 7 million OnStar customers, could help them get an early mover advantage in a fast-growing space.
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Sat 05 Nov 2016, 15:29:24

U.S. Designates Electric Vehicle Charging Corridors

The federal government is designating 48 electric vehicle charging corridors along 25,000 miles of major U.S. highways as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and make it easier for drivers to switch to electric cars, the White House announced Thursday.

The plan calls for electric vehicle charging stations to be installed at least every 50 miles within the corridors and new government-approved signage to help drivers identify the locations of charging stations along the highway in 35 states.

... Some of the major electric vehicle charging corridors include Interstate 5 from San Diego to the Canadian border; Interstates 25 and 70 through Colorado; Interstates 10, 20, 30, 35 and 45 through Texas; Interstate 80 from Nebraska to New York City; Interstate 95 from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Me.; and Interstates 75 and 85 through Georgia.

States without corridors include Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and most of Florida.

Twenty-eight local governments, companies, utilities and organizations are lined up to work with the federal government to establish the electric vehicle charging stations, including General Electric, General Motors, BMW, Nissan, New York State, Rocky Mountain Power, investor group Vision Ridge Partners and others.


GM starts producing 200-mile electric Chevrolet Bolt

... The Bolt's range more than covers the average daily round-trip commute of about 40 miles in the U.S., and that should give comfort to those who fear running out of power, said Stephanie Brinley, an auto industry analyst for IHS Markit. But there's always the late night at work and the early meeting the next morning without enough charging time, or the night you forget to plug the car in. Those are tough adjustments for Americans, she said.

"We're trained to believe that wherever we go, we can get the fuel that we need. With electricity you need to plan that out a little bit more," Brinley said.


The Self-Parking Cars Will Be a Reality Before Self-Driving Cars Thanks to Ford

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I'd like to see a computer get out of that parking space.

We may be a full decade away from fully autonomous cars, but by 2018 there is a good chance that your next Ford Sedan or SUV will be able to take the strain, at least when it comes to parking.

A 2016 BMW 7 Series can park itself, whether the owner is at the wheel or not, simply with the press of a button on the key fob. Likewise, a Mercedes E-Class can swerve to avoid a collision at 120mph without first consulting the driver.

All of which is great for those with over $100,000 to spend on a new car, but what about the rest of us -- when will these types of next-generation driving aids be trickling down to the mainstream?

Within the next two years, says Ford, who is currently putting new collision avoidance, object detection and parking assist features through their paces at its Research and Innovation Center in Aachen, Germany.

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... As well as assisting with steering, speed and gear changes when moving in and out of perpendicular and parallel parking spaces, Ford's new parking assist system can also monitor movement around the car so that it doesn't back out into the path of an oncoming vehicle or crossing pedestrians.

Meanwhile, a new evasive steering system is also in the works that will help drivers manoeuvre around slower or stopped vehicles at city speeds if there isn't sufficient space for an emergency stop and a collision is imminent.

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15 of the World's Worst Parking Fails, in GIFs

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Self-driving cars won’t work in India

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At a time when the automotive world is bullish on self-driving cars, Maruti Suzuki Chairman R.C. Bhargava says such autonomous vehicles will not work in India as “nobody obeys any of the driving rules“.
“I think no technology will work here when nobody obeys any of the driving rules, nobody obeys any of the systems which are there. How will you devise a technology that will predict customer behaviour? Nobody can predict customer behaviour”

“I would love to see people try and put that technology to use in the Indian driving conditions,” Mr. Bhargava said.

Video - Incredible Indian Traffic

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Rules?!? We don't need no stinkin' rules!


Baidu to make self-driving cars available to public by 2018

A self-driving vehicle service will be commercially viable in China by 2018, while the mass production of self-driving cars will be realized within five years, China's Internet giant Baidu announced on Nov. 3. Currently, 18 car and Internet companies have revealed similar plans, among which Baidu is the leading enterprise.

Baidu has made significant achievements this year in self-driving technology. The company's self-driving cars now boast accuracy of 90.13 percent when it comes to the recognition of objects, slightly higher than last year's 89.6 percent. For the recognition of passengers and traffic lights, the vehicles score 95 percent and 99.9 percent respectively, Thepaper.cn reported. (... this is better than Chinese drivers)


Self-drive delivery van can be 'built in four hours'

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A self-drive electric delivery van, that could be on UK streets next year, has been unveiled at the Wired 2016 conference in London.

The vehicle's stripped-back design and lightweight materials mean it can be assembled by one person in four hours, Sverdlov added, and this means 10 men, over two shifts a day could assemble 10,000 trucks a year. The vehicles will be "autonomous-ready", for when self-drive legislation is in place, the firm said.

The self-drive software has been developed in-house and is ready to be uploaded to the trucks "at the touch of a button" whenever the government allows autonomous vehicles on UK roads, the firm said.

Charge plans to develop trucks in a range of sizes from 3.5 to 26 tonnes and is in talks with the major truck fleet firms.

For the first 100 miles the truck travels, it produces 'zero emissions,' the company claims. "For longer journeys, a dual mode can be used to ‘top up’ the battery and extend the range to 500 miles". The trucks will be built at a series of new factories in Oxfordshire over the next few years.

DHL has previously said of the firm: "We see huge potential in the contribution they can make to advancing technology for commercial usages and the way we envisage the future of logistics."

The government wants to see self-drive cars on the roads by 2020.


Elon Musk Wants to Replace Truck Drivers with “Fleet Managers”
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby Sys1 » Sun 06 Nov 2016, 09:47:59

I recently drived trying to observe the way I do it with attention. The more I watched my behaviour while driving, the more I think it's impossible to achieve a fully self driving car (meaning able to drive in any condition). There are so many unexpected situation possibles that it's simply impossible to automate it. I especially think about the cases where you HAVE TO VIOLATE the driving rules in order to drive safely.
Example : passing a continuous line because of a bike driving slowly, watching the driver face of another car to figure out what he/she is about to do, including dangerous faults, getting that some seconds after a ball is Rolling on the road, a child will come after, or having to pass a cross section road despite the red light because a truck is driving too fast behind you... and more and more...
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Sun 06 Nov 2016, 16:07:30

Sys1 wrote:I recently drived trying to observe the way I do it with attention. The more I watched my behaviour while driving, the more I think it's impossible to achieve a fully self driving car (meaning able to drive in any condition). There are so many unexpected situation possibles that it's simply impossible to automate it. I especially think about the cases where you HAVE TO VIOLATE the driving rules in order to drive safely.
Example : passing a continuous line because of a bike driving slowly, watching the driver face of another car to figure out what he/she is about to do, including dangerous faults, getting that some seconds after a ball is Rolling on the road, a child will come after, or having to pass a cross section road despite the red light because a truck is driving too fast behind you... and more and more...


Some of these may already be addressed by AI ...

Pedestrian protection system helps drivers brake and take evasive action

Technology looks one second into the future - To test the technology, Bürkle and his interdisciplinary team have built a research vehicle. Its central component is a Bosch stereo video camera of the kind already used in production models. Mounted behind the windshield near the rear-view mirror, the camera provides a 3D image of the area to the front of the vehicle, and detects pedestrians and oncoming traffic as well as obstacles on the road ahead. A computer in the trunk of the research vehicle analyzes the information. If a pedestrian suddenly appears in the stereo video camera’s field of vision, the system computes the likelihood of a collision as well as the route that must be taken to avoid it. All this happens at lightning speed – more than ten times a second. The correct interpretation of the images from the camera and the specific driving situation is particularly complex. “To plan the new trajectory as precisely as possible, we have to do things such as predict where the pedestrian is likely to be in a second’s time,” Bürkle explains. The team’s work focuses on developing the algorithms this requires. Bosch’s multi-faceted software expertise, which the company continues to expand, is vital in this process.

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Evasive steering assist systems:

Video - Many new cars offer autonomous emergency braking, but Ford is steering in a different direction—literally. The automaker is working on a new technology called Evasive Steering Assist that promises to help you steer around an imminent crash. ESA, take the wheel.

Video - The system works by using a front-mounted camera and radar detector to monitor the surrounding traffic at both city and highway speeds. If a crash is determined to be imminent, the car will first warn the driver, then apply the brakes if no action is taken.

But say something sudden happens in front of you, and you can't stop in time to avoid it. Your natural instinct is to jerk the steering wheel to try and swerve around the obstacle. But most drivers aren't prepared for a sudden evasive maneuver, and they might not even know how far they've turned the wheel.

That's where ESA kicks in. The system activates the moment it detects an evasive swerve. Once the driver initiates the steering action, ESA takes over, steering the car the exact right amount to avoid the obstacle, while also preventing the car from crashing into anything else or spinning out of control.

Evasive steering support helps drivers avoid obstacles by way of specific steering interventions. This means the maximum steering angle is reached 25 percent faster. Prior to the maneuver, radar and video sensors detect whether the vehicle’s surroundings permit a swerve of any kind. (They make this assessment 200x faster than a human can and with radar and sonar sensors they can see around or through obstacles that would block normal vision.)

Traffic Jam Assist systems:

Video - Traffic Jam Assist helps the driver keep the vehicle centered in a lane, plus it brakes and accelerates to keep pace with the vehicle in front.

Intelligent Headlight Assist: Video


WABCO and ZF Unveil Breakthrough Evasive Maneuver Assist Safety Technology for Commercial Vehicles; Demonstrate Prototype that Connects Active Braking and Steering Capability

... Evasive Maneuver Assist leverages the capabilities of WABCO’s industry-leading OnGuardACTIVE™, its most advanced, radar-only collision mitigation system. A radar sensor identifies moving or stationary vehicles ahead and alerts the driver via visual, audio and haptic signals of impending rear-end collisions. Should the driver determine that the system cannot avoid a rear-end collision by driver-initiated or autonomous braking alone, Evasive Maneuver Assist engages to help the driver to safely steer around an obstructing vehicle and to bring truck and trailer to a complete and safe stop. In such situations, this new collision avoidance function is connecting WABCO’s proven electronic braking system (EBS), advanced emergency braking system (AEBS), electronic stability control (ESC) and vehicle dynamics control systems to ZF’s electrohydraulic ReAX power steering system.


Panasonic takes major step toward autonomous driving with its first connected vehicle platform in the US

Panasonic announced Thursday that it is partnering with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to build a connected transportation system to share real-time data across vehicles and infrastructure to improve driver safety and roadway efficiency, in what is considered an interim step toward fully autonomous driving.

"This system provides, in a very basic sense, the ability to communicate information in a connected vehicle from different points along the road or the infrastructure that is defining things that the user in the vehicle would need to know or be enhanced by that," Gebhardt said. "It will give him information as it relates to traffic patterns, weather concerns, any disruption on the road, and alternatives that may be there, or trouble that he has to deal with. The roadside units are a communication node that speaks to the vehicle as it goes through these different points."

... Panasonic will begin with a rollout on a 90-mile stretch of I-70 between Denver and the mountains. The rollout will be phased in over several years with communications equipment testing through 2017, equipment installation slated for 2018 and 2019, and a full rollout to be in place by 2020, he said.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby litesong » Sun 06 Nov 2016, 22:38:45

vox_mundi wrote:
litesong wrote:We bought a new sweet car for sub-$13,000 & other good new cars have been sold for less than $10,000. Sure glad to hear that self-driving cars will also be below $10,000. What you say? They won't be. There won't be any manual transmissions either? What's goin' on?!!!

[b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-JJuHpfN5g]Buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, 'cause Kansas is going bye-bye!"


Maybe, but........I wouldn't drive a self-driver on a narrow logging road with a vertical 500 foot cliff next to the road edge. Also, several auto manufacturers brag that their auto trannies get the same mpg as their manual transmissions. We have two Hyundai Elantras, one auto, the other a manual transmission. I love them both. Being a featherfooter, I keep careful mpg records AND the two cars do get nearly the same mpg. However, the manual transmission is geared about 4% lower than the automatic. As a result, the manual has better acceleration. Sometimes high tech takes low tech methods to gain "superiority".
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Re: THE Self-Driving Car / Ridesharing Thread

Unread postby vox_mundi » Mon 07 Nov 2016, 15:03:48

Oilsands workers worry driverless trucks will haul away their jobs

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Video - At the Suncor oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray, drivers and heavy equipment operators nervously watch as massive trucks rumble by with no one behind the wheel. With each passing truck, workers can imagine their jobs slipping away.
"Trucks don't get pensions, they don't take vacations, it's purely dollars and cents"
- Ken Smith, president of Unifor 707A in Fort McMurray

Canada's largest private-sector union, Unifor represents 3,400 employees at Suncor and considers the emergence of the Automated Haulage System, or AHS, a greater threat than any economic downturn in the oilpatch.

Each autonomous truck represents an estimated loss of five jobs, said Smith, who predicts the technology being tested today will put 1,000 workers, some 30 per cent of the workforce, on the unemployment line. And that's just at the main Suncor mine. There are several other massive mines in the region. "The second wave of layoffs due to technology will be crippling to Fort McMurray, for sure," said Smith.

Once those jobs disappear, Smith said, he's worried his members won't be able to find work that comes close to earning the $200,000 annual salary an operator on site now makes.
"It's one of our biggest fears," ... "That these autonomous-haul trucks will replace one-third of our workforce."

Suncor has contracted the trucks and technology from Komatsu, a Japanese company that is a world leader in AHS. According to information on its website, Komatsu specializes in construction and mining equipment, and first introduced a commercial AHS in 2008.

Since then, the company has said its autonomous dump trucks have "hauled over one billion tons of overburden and minerals at large-scale mines" in Chile and Australia. Aside from safety features, Komatsu promotes its system as a way to "help its mining customers significantly improve their productivity, thereby becoming their indispensable partner."

The biggest mine in Australia runs about 16 AHS trucks, Smith said. He expects there will one day be many times that number in Alberta. Said Smith:
"We're going to run 200 of them on one mine site, so that's a huge difference"

The use of an AHS by Suncor is part of larger shift towards increased automation in mining, both on surface and below ground.

Just over a year ago Rio Tinto rolled out the world's first fully driver-less mines, announcing that haul trucks at its Yandicoogina and Nammuldi mines are being controlled through an operations centre in Perth 1,200 kilometres away. The trucks run 24/7, every day of the year and each truck is estimated to save around 500 work hours annually.

Back in 2011 Mining.com reported on Rio Tinto reaching a deal with Komatsu to buy 150 driverless truck over the next four years. At the time Rio said the vehicles will increase productivity by hauling more material quicker. Three years later, BHP Billiton completed a trial of Caterpillar driverless trucks at its coal mine in New Mexico, and in 2013 started using autonomous haulers on a trial basis at its Jimblebar iron ore mine in the Pilbara.

In 2013 Fortescue Metals Group also installed Cat autonomous trucks at its Solomon mine in Western Australia. The world's largest heavy equipment manufacturer has a complete line of high-tech autonomous mining equipment, including driverless dozers and haulers.

In 2014 when BHP Billiton opened the Jimblebar iron ore mine, the opening coincided with an announcement that BHP would expand its driverless truck fleet from the six Caterpillar 793F autonomous trucks being trialed at Jimblebar since 2013, with another six to be tested at its neighbouring Wheelarra operation.


The unintended ways self-driving cars will change our lives

Six years ago, Google raised a lot of eyebrows when it announced it was developing a self-driving car. At the time, very few people took the technology seriously. However, things have been gearing up, and now self-driving cars are about to be part of our everyday life. Just last August, Uber rolled out its first batch of 100 driverless taxi-cars in Pittsburgh.
This is one of the most transformative technologies of the last decade. The ways these cars will impact your everyday life, from potentially losing your right to drive to losing your job altogether, can’t be overstated.

The transportation industry is the first victim, but there will be more to come. In fact, Oxford researchers estimate that automation is expected to wipe off about half of US jobs within the next two decades.
Automation itself isn’t bad. It’s a process that has been going on for centuries. History is filled with jobs that disappeared because of technology. How many of these would you want to bring back? Future generations will think of human drivers the same way as we now think of town criers or elevator operators.

Driving could become illegal
Let’s put it bluntly: humans are shitty drivers. In America alone, there’s hasn’t been a year since WW2 where car crash didn’t kill over 30 000 people. And over 94% of those are caused by human error.

Meanwhile, computers are just much better. A recent study estimates that mass-adoption of self-driving cars could reduce over 90% of traffic accidents. Facts back this up. Since their inception, Google self-driving cars have driven almost 2 million miles, and have only been involved in one accident where the computer was at fault.

What happens when self-driving cars become mainstream, and the authorities realize how overwhelmingly better at driving they are? They outlaw driving. Elon Musk made a lot of people angry because he believes this might happen. In the end, safety is about money. In the US, accidents cost about $871 billion/year and that alone, means it’s reasonable to believe changes could be afoot.

The technology will lead to massive public surveillance:

Russian dash cam videos have become an Internet running gag. But comedy aside, they’re a necessity because the corrupt law enforcement and legal system in Russia force drivers to get a dash cam to protect their rights.

In the U.S., the proliferation of camera-enabled smartphone has shed light on another important issue. Videos capturing police violence brought widespread media attention, leading to nationwide protests and the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement. But ultimately, the violence isn’t new; it’s the cameras that are.

Still, surveillance by the public can lead to dangerous surveillance OF the public. While the staggering amount of information collected could massively improve public safety by identifying roadblocks, accidents or potential dangers and immediately contact the right service (and crime prevention software could detect assaults as they unfold and warn the authorities), this constant surveillance would bring us closer to an Orwellian society.

...
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

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