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How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

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Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#81

Post by pbw »

vibrunazo wrote: post #41
pbw wrote: post #16

The technology is impressive, but humans drive okay without LIDAR, radar, or GPS. Maybe some day self-driving cars can drive using only two small visible-light sensors located above and behind the steering wheel. It might just be an AI challenge to operate that way, and commercial systems will always employ advanced sensors for better safety. But I don't think true parity has been reached until they can drive like we…

> humans drive okay Seriously?

So in the US we have about 8 fatalities per 1B kilometers driven. Yes that's 8 too many, but that is a damn lot of km driven without incident. So yeah we do okay. Machines will do better, but we do okay.

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#82

Post by ctdonath »

mcxx wrote: post #66
ctdonath wrote: post #9

Everything Google does feeds back, somehow, to data mining. How does self-driving cars fit in to Google's plans? ETA: Downvoted for asking a serious question? WTH?

Constantly updated Street view. Also, they could map all the roads of the world this way.

THAT is awesome.

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#83

Post by tomkarlo »

omegant wrote: post #14

It is normal for pedestrians to look for eye contact in order to know if a driver will yield the right of way or simply will accelerate and pass (in light less crosswalks). In dense pedestrian cities (I am from Spain) it is very usual to have some guessing and false start stop between the pedestrian and the driver, nobody seems to know who is going to yield finally. I wonder if this is been thought and how you'll sig…

My guess is that automated vehicles will be both more predictable, and more dependable, at yielding.

When a pedestrian jaywalks in front of an oncoming vehicle, he's depending on the fact that the driver isn't distracted, and can pick him out of the visual clutter at the sides of the road. I'm a good driver, but I still find that it can be difficult to spot a pedestrian who is standing among parked cars at dusk, especially considering that my rear-view mirror obstructs some of my vision further up the road on the right side, as it does for a lot of drivers.

An automated car should always be paying attention (especially since it can pay attention to lots of things at once) and doesn't have to depend on human eyesight to detect potential collisions - it can utilize lasers, infrared and other sensors.

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#84

Post by tomkarlo »

ctdonath wrote: post #9

Everything Google does feeds back, somehow, to data mining. How does self-driving cars fit in to Google's plans? ETA: Downvoted for asking a serious question? WTH?

More likely downvoted for making an unsubstantiated generalization - Google is a huge company with hundreds of products and projects, while many of them may connect to advertising / data mining, there are lots that don't.

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#85

Post by jka »

ctdonath wrote: post #9

Everything Google does feeds back, somehow, to data mining. How does self-driving cars fit in to Google's plans? ETA: Downvoted for asking a serious question? WTH?

It'll give them very accurate information on where people are travelling from and to - much as Google Maps directions/navigation does, but on a much more precise and reliable scale.

Bear in mind that there's a completely alternative model for car ownership; with fully automated vehicles, there's no absolute requirement for people to 'buy' a car - there could be shared metropolitan resources of cars, which would arrive and pick you up 'on demand' (much like a shared taxi service, subsided by subscription)

Also, given that Google would probably know the locations of all the cars at any point in time, they could also get very, very detailed traffic flow information. This they could use to further optimize traffic - i.e. load-balancing traffic through different routes - but also this could potentially be sold to other transit agencies, or even tied to demographic data to suggest where stores should open new premises.

Probably some more ideas/data sources and uses in here that I haven't considered too :)

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#86

Post by tomkarlo »

Qworg wrote: post #71
jsnell wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I'm no expert, but this seems like a market where it'd be natural for there to be only a few major players, rather than every manufacturer having their proprietary implementations. Why would you build an in-house system rather than buy one? Generally because buying is more expensive in the long run, because you can build a better one, or because keeping the expertise in-house allows for more chances of integr…

There are very few standardized systems in the automotive industry, especially for "luxury items". Recently, that's changed with some manufacturers using the same undercarriage to build different cars. It would take a huge change in the mindset of a car manufacturer to buy something like this that could be a competitive advantage.

Granted, but given that most of them haven't even been able to get their in-dash software systems right (look at Ford's debacle), how likely are they to be able to make dependable self-driving cars?

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#87

Post by ph0rque »

omegant wrote: post #58
pilgrim689 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense for the self-driving car to yield to pedestrians all the time. So if you see that there is no driver, you assume it will stop until you are out of its way. There will be no more awkward social guessing games!

There is a second part on it. How will cars behave when they are driving along a crowded street in a place where people crosses anywhere and changing directions and intentions very fast. I don't think there will be dangers to pedestrian. But it's going to be a tought problem avoiding false emergency breaking. Once more you have to rely on visual contact to know what are the real intentions of people. Crossing, waitin…

Maybe following the lead of European and South American cities, city downtowns will become pedestrian-only zones.

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#88

Post by [deleted] »

omegant wrote: post #58
pilgrim689 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense for the self-driving car to yield to pedestrians all the time. So if you see that there is no driver, you assume it will stop until you are out of its way. There will be no more awkward social guessing games!

There is a second part on it. How will cars behave when they are driving along a crowded street in a place where people crosses anywhere and changing directions and intentions very fast. I don't think there will be dangers to pedestrian. But it's going to be a tought problem avoiding false emergency breaking. Once more you have to rely on visual contact to know what are the real intentions of people. Crossing, waitin…

[deleted]

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#89

Post by tomkarlo »

tzs wrote: post #48
ctdonath wrote: post #9

Everything Google does feeds back, somehow, to data mining. How does self-driving cars fit in to Google's plans? ETA: Downvoted for asking a serious question? WTH?

Here's a possibility. I'm not saying they will do this. It's just an illustration of what someone controlling the software in a fleet of self-driving cars could do. You summon a self-driving taxi to take you to Bob's Bistro--known throughout the city for its steaks, and your call is serviced by a car using Google self-driving software. Google knows who you are and knows where you are going. The car's route planner de…

This is a pretty paranoid and far-fetched scenario.

Generally, I'd expect that an automated taxi would operate under rules similar to current taxis - the obligation would be to take the customer to the destination via the most direct route specified, unless otherwise directed.

Taking someone on another route might constitute kidnapping - you're essentially transporting them against their will to somewhere they did not ask to go.

Re: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

#90

Post by missing_cipher »

ctdonath wrote: post #9

Everything Google does feeds back, somehow, to data mining. How does self-driving cars fit in to Google's plans? ETA: Downvoted for asking a serious question? WTH?

It could gather information on a highway's traffic and things like that, sell them to whoever is interested in that stuff(News maybe?)
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