efarmer wrote:Can I buy a suction cup mounted steering wheel to hold onto
In Google colours, even.
efarmer wrote:Can I buy a suction cup mounted steering wheel to hold onto
Who would use it?
There are use case scenarios for everyone. Not only could the self-driving car streamline commutes — from the grocery store and the office to long road trips — but it could also help transport the elderly, kids and the blind. Taxi and bus companies could also utilize the technology and bring individualized transportation to non-car owners.
Who are Google's partners?
It's unclear as of right now who Google has partnered with to built the car, but one thing is evident: companies want in.
Uber cofounder and CEO Travis Kalanick said during the Re/Code conference on Wednesday in San Francisco that he sees practical use for Google's self-driving cars in Uber's business.
"The magic [of a self-driving uber car] is, the reason Uber could be expensive is because you’re paying for the other dude in the car [the driver]," Kalanick said. "When there isn’t another dude in the car, the cost for taking a road trip becomes cheaper."
For climate change and urbanism concerns, self-driving vehicles have been a source of some anxiety. The current trend is away from private vehicle ownership, toward more dense communities where public transportation, biking, and walking can serve most transportation needs. And that’s important, when automobiles are among the leading emitters of greenhouse gases. But the self-driving car could halt this progress.
What does the future of transportation hold? Flying cars? Self-driving cars? An all-electric transportation world?
Of course, I think the latter is on the way, but I also think self-driving cars will be a great complement to electric cars and are another inevitable. Actually, two of the biggest cleantech leaders in the world, Elon Musk and Carlos Ghosn, are both aiming to bring the first “driverless” or “autonomous driving” vehicles to market.
Graeme wrote:You didn't read the link:Who would use it?
There are use case scenarios for everyone. Not only could the self-driving car streamline commutes — from the grocery store and the office to long road trips — but it could also help transport the elderly, kids and the blind. Taxi and bus companies could also utilize the technology and bring individualized transportation to non-car owners.
Who are Google's partners?
It's unclear as of right now who Google has partnered with to built the car, but one thing is evident: companies want in.
Uber cofounder and CEO Travis Kalanick said during the Re/Code conference on Wednesday in San Francisco that he sees practical use for Google's self-driving cars in Uber's business.
"The magic [of a self-driving uber car] is, the reason Uber could be expensive is because you’re paying for the other dude in the car [the driver]," Kalanick said. "When there isn’t another dude in the car, the cost for taking a road trip becomes cheaper."
Aside from the points Chris highlights on Gas2 (and in the repost below), the insider also told Jalopnik that “Roush employees have been making their way back and forth between Mountain View and Michigan as of late.” Also worth noting is Google’s response to Jalopnik: “These vehicles are a collaboration between the automotive talent of Michigan and the software and sensor expertise of Silicon Valley. The vehicles themselves have been assembled in a facility in Michigan — the self driving high tech parts are being assembled here in California. We are working with a number of top-notch automotive suppliers and technology companies. (We are not naming them at this point.)”
So, yes, Roush is very likely involved, but so are several other “top-notch” auto companies. For such an innovative car, this isn’t too surprising, is it? I’ll turn you over to Chris now
Another problem with maps is that once you make them, you have to keep them up to date, a challenge Google says it hasn't yet started working on. Considering all the traffic signals, stop signs, lane markings, and crosswalks that get added or removed every day throughout the country, keeping a gigantic database of maps current is vastly difficult. Safety is at stake here; Chris Urmson, director of the Google car team, told me that if the car came across a traffic signal not on its map, it could potentially run a red light, simply because it wouldn't know to look for the signal. Urmson added, however, that an unmapped traffic signal would be "very unlikely," because during the "time and construction" needed to build a traffic signal, there would be adequate opportunity to add it to the map.
But not always. Scott Heydt, director of marketing at Horizon Signal Technologies, says his company routinely sets up its portable traffic signals at road construction sites. Frequently, they are simply towed to a site and turned on. "We just set one up like that in New Jersey," said Heydt. "You can be driving to work and everything is normal, but on your way home, discover a new traffic light." (Of this possibility, a Google spokesperson said, “We will have to be ready for that.”)
Noting that the Google car might not be able to handle an unmapped traffic light might sound like a cynical game of "gotcha." But MIT roboticist John Leonard says it goes to the heart of why the Google car project is so daunting. "While the probability of a single driver encountering a newly installed traffic light is very low, the probability of at least one driver encountering one on a given day is very high," Leonard says. The list of these "rare" events is practically endless, said Leonard, who does not expect a full self-driving car in his lifetime (he’s 49).
...
Because it can't tell the difference between a big rock and a crumbled-up piece of newspaper, it will try to drive around both if it encounters either sitting in the middle of the road. (Google specifically confirmed these present shortcomings to me for the MIT Technology Review article.) Can the car currently "see" another vehicle's turn signals or brake lights? Can it tell the difference between the flashing lights on top of a tow truck and those on top of an ambulance? If it's driving past a school playground, and a ball rolls out into the street, will it know to be on special alert? (Google declined to respond to these additional questions when I posed them.)
...
We tend to lionize computer researchers, forgetting that they've made some colossally bad predictions over the years. When 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in 1968, MIT's Marvin Minsky assured the public that machines like HAL would indeed be possible in 30 years. Perhaps one day tech enthusiasts will be able to visit a Museum of the Future That Never Was, where the Jetsons’ hover car and the Google super-robocar will sit side-by-side as showcase exhibits. Expect long lines for both, because the demos will be sensational.
pstarr wrote:Good post, Keith.To be able to handle the everyday stresses and strains of the real driving world, the Google car will require a computer with a level of intelligence that machines won't have for many years, if ever.
Or is that a shopping cart? Do I have a subroutine for that?dinopello wrote:person with a baby carriage steps out in front of you
Keith_McClary wrote:Or is that a shopping cart? Do I have a subroutine for that?dinopello wrote:person with a baby carriage steps out in front of you
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests