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Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

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Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#351

Post by ghaff »

robotresearcher wrote: post #316
ghaff wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if it's not a status thing you buy vehicles with the features you want, equip them for outdoor sports, store gear in them, etc. And, as you say, if I really need a vehicle in a hurry because of an emergency or just because I'm running late I really don't want to fiddle with a mobile app.

Yes, I prefer that too. But do I prefer it by tens of thousands of dollars? Maybe not.

All the mileage-related costs are still there though. You're probably overestimating the degree to which simple age (and time value of money) dominates car cost. It is admittedly greater in states with snow--and hence salt on the roads in the winter.

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#352

Post by rrhd »

mavhc wrote: post #255
munificent wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be pretty easy for a fleet service to also provide a bin that you can persistently store your stuff in. When you summon a car, the system puts your bin in before it goes to get you.

I envisage systems of standardised storage lockers, you can pull the whole locker into your car, 4 fit in the car for 4 users, you can wheel them into work, or lock into cabinets around the place, when there's no car parks they'll be lots of free space, 1% can be for storage lockers.

Why would there be no car parks?

People tend to travel at similar times. Your total number of cars required is still going to be high.

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#353

Post by jacksmith21006 »

Fricken wrote: post #99
edshiro wrote: post #68

If Waymo's tech is years ahead of the competition (say 18-24 months ahead minimum) then I think a lot of the self-driving companies and car manufacturers in the US will be having cold sweats. This may not be a winner-take-all market (I don't know honestly...) but I see this lead up enabling Waymo to capture significant market share in the US in regions where laws towards autonomous vehicles are friendly. One way the…

It's certainly not a winner take all market, the world is a big place and it would be ridiculously capital-intensive to deploy everywhere before anyone else has a shot. Though we could very well end up seeing regional monopolies where a single fleet provider dominates in a given city. Uber is working hard to develop autonomous vehicles, but I don't think they need to worry about getting usurped by a competitors robot…

Disagree. Think it is a winner take all. But I also think Google will involve other companies but be controlling the platform that wins.

Google has way too many advantgeous even beyond a beta? Alpha? working solution. But it is the fact that Google really wants it. Plus there is no competition from any other big tech player like Amazon and FB be the most important two.

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#354

Post by rrhd »

LrnByTeach wrote: post #250
bitL wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you want to own a self-driving car? You'll just summon it from the nearest parking lot when needed.

It is Summon only, no ownership. when I said $200/month SUBSCRIPTION for 1000 miles, no Per RIDE pay

WHY must YOU keep CAPITALIZING RANDOM WORDS?

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#355

Post by jacksmith21006 »

sliverstorm wrote: post #78
edshiro wrote: post #68

If Waymo's tech is years ahead of the competition (say 18-24 months ahead minimum) then I think a lot of the self-driving companies and car manufacturers in the US will be having cold sweats. This may not be a winner-take-all market (I don't know honestly...) but I see this lead up enabling Waymo to capture significant market share in the US in regions where laws towards autonomous vehicles are friendly. One way the…

Do we have a good signal that truly indicates Waymo has more advanced tech? Or could they simply have a bigger appetite for risk?

Yes Waymo is well ahead.

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/california-dmv-autonomous-car-... The Numbers Don't Lie: Self-Driving Cars Are Getting Good - Wired

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#356

Post by tempestn »

StreamBright wrote: post #133
davidkuhta wrote: post #129

Excited about the technology and expected this news eventually, but in less of a "Bam, we did it" and more of a "Coming Dec 2017... look for new autonomous vehicles, they'll be bright orange with flashing lights". Following-up on the "How is this legal" question below, can anyone comment on: 1. For the 'autonomous engineers/technologists': a) Is the technology mature enough that it can be utilized without an on-board…

I think the question is what happens when the first accident happens caused by autonomous car. US law is not really forgiving in this regard.

People assumed it would be huge news the first time a car crashed while driving autonomously too though, and it turned out people barely noticed. I'm sure this stuff will need to get figured out, but I don't think it will necessarily be a huge incident the first time there's an accident without someone in the driver's seat. Presumably the first of these vehicles to be deployed will be fleet cars and such and will have specially tailored insurance policies; by the time it's individual owners, the legality will probably be somewhat settled (although there probably will eventually be elements litigated).

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#357

Post by andrewtbham »

Canada wrote: post #308
andrewtbham wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeh things will change... you sorta already see stuff like this in Asia where drivers are common... people have vans with offices in the back and work while their driver takes them to places.

How common is that? I've never seen it.

Drivers in Asia are, to my understanding, very common... Idk about the office/van. I just know one guy in South Korea that has that setup and he is rich. He says other people have it but not sure how common it is.

But "executive" back seats are very common on luxury brand vehicles in China.

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#358

Post by 1812Overture »

tigershark wrote: post #322
wskinner wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Passenger rail in the United States probably doesn’t have the same economics as the other places you’re thinking of. I recently drove across part of the country, and it is shocking how much space there is with absolutely nothing there. There is a 100 mile stretch of I-80 without cell service or signs of habitation. If you live in a city, it’s easy to forget that the United States is much, much, bigger than Europe or…

What? Europe is actually bigger than US. US is less than 10M Km^2, Europe is more than 10M Km^2

More important difference is that a lot of the empty space in Europe is at its northern and eastern extremes and America's empty space is mostly in the middle (and Alaska).

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#359

Post by rrhd »

nroets wrote: post #186
zjaffee wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Car pool lanes will likely be a big reason people choose to pool in autonomous cars. I imagine that self driving cars will make traffic much worse, and we will see a movement where cities create more and more HOV lanes to reduce traffic in such situations.

Self driving (and taxis) cars can reduce traffic, because commuters can combine them with mass transit (e.g. trains). If a commuter travels more than 2 legs in a day, it's very likely that mass transit will not cover one of the legs and he will take his car.

why would people do that when they don't already carpool or take a bus?

Re: Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

#360

Post by ghaff »

PuffinBlue wrote: post #349
ghaff wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your kids must be saints. If I had been cooped up with my parents and sibling as a child for 40 hours even in a large van or RV with robo-Uber at the helm, someone would probably have been murdered at some point :-) As for my adult self, lie-flat seating on planes trans-Pacific is OK but it's still pretty boring. Even if I could work at some level in my comfy cross-country van I'd still take a significantly faster op…

I think you perhaps misread the post. It suggests that there is only 12 hours driving per day but the kids would be asleep for at least 8 of those. The idea being drive overnight and stop at the next waypoint (see friends in flyover country/national park etc) during the day. I guess the plan being to do interesting stuff when awake and travel when asleep, for the most part. I suppose as long as you get in the hours y…

>It would take a complete redesign of car interiors to something far more comfortable/secure for lying down but no reason that problem couldn't be solved.

Well, it's solved. They're called RVs. As a kid (or even as an adult), I think I'd still find it being pretty cooped up. It's one reason that I've never taken long-haul Amtrak that I suspect I'd find is more interesting in the theory than in the practice.

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