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Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

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Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#111

Post by perbu »

thematt wrote: post #95
augustl wrote: post #35

I own a 2013 XC60 and as a programmer, I'm amazed at how well their current automation works in practice. The car reads road signs to show me the current speed limit in the dash (actual OCR, not a GPS database). It works amazingly well, except when it's very dark in the winter. Adaptive cruise control flawlessly follows cars based on radar, even in somewhat dramatic full stops, e.g. when there's suddenly heavy traffi…

Why would it bother OCR'ing road signs? That seems much more error prone and needlessly complex. That data is readily available from a data sources based on your GPS location, I know TomToms and other navigation devices have it.

Speed limits might change without prier notice due to a car accident or road works ahead. Such works might be initiated by authorities responding to an accident or similar without planning or access to update a central database.

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#112

Post by [deleted] »

nawitus wrote: post #96
thematt wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would it bother OCR'ing road signs? That seems much more error prone and needlessly complex. That data is readily available from a data sources based on your GPS location, I know TomToms and other navigation devices have it.

At least in Finland, probably in Sweden too speed limits change often (every 6 months) due to winter. In my experience the GPS databases are extremely often not in sync, and you can't predict which speed limits change and when. In addition, there are electronic speed limits that change depending on the weather in real-time. OCR seems like a better option for these conditions.

[deleted]

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#113

Post by toomuchtodo »

bluthru wrote: post #75

Has anything been said about an open protocol for inter-car communication? What about sharing point cloud data? I have a bad feeling that Google is going to keep everything sealed in Google Maps. The industry would benefit from sharing all of their data with OpenStreetMap.

> The industry would benefit from sharing all of their data with OpenStreetMap.

What is the barrier to entry for an open platform for people to submit this same data to OpenStreetMap. Precise Positioning + GoPros + data processing on the backend.

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#114

Post by ableal »

jotm wrote: post #30

I can't wait for self driving tech to be put into use - transportation will get cheaper and faster (no more 8-10 hours driving limit bs), not to mention that one or two persons could drive a dozen trucks filled with cargo (though a lot of truckers will hate that)...

> not to mention that one or two persons could drive a dozen trucks filled with cargo

Maybe autonomous vehicles will make smaller trucks cost-effective, and big trucks will then be charged their true cost in road damage and traffic risks.

That would be a much more visible change in the traffic landscape.

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#115

Post by jacquesm »

nabla9 wrote: post #108
jacquesm wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, my camera takes more than a million measurements in 1/100th of a second and has a spatial resolution comparable to that or better depending on the distance. 'A million measurements' sounds really impressive but it does not have much to do with anything. What's a measurement? A single distance measurement in front of the car? Ok, at what opening angle, how many returns, how many pulses / second and so on. As it…

360 degree 3d map of its surroundings. http://i.imgur.com/hmSc9HJ.jpg

What's the sample rate on that?

(how many times per second is the same point revisited)

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#116

Post by joosters »

thematt wrote: post #95
augustl wrote: post #35

I own a 2013 XC60 and as a programmer, I'm amazed at how well their current automation works in practice. The car reads road signs to show me the current speed limit in the dash (actual OCR, not a GPS database). It works amazingly well, except when it's very dark in the winter. Adaptive cruise control flawlessly follows cars based on radar, even in somewhat dramatic full stops, e.g. when there's suddenly heavy traffi…

Why would it bother OCR'ing road signs? That seems much more error prone and needlessly complex. That data is readily available from a data sources based on your GPS location, I know TomToms and other navigation devices have it.

Well it's what us humans do and it works OK for us. No internet connection or satellites required either.

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#117

Post by amckenna »

Watching the video it struck me that the lights embedded in the barriers between lanes are a really good idea. It provides illumination of the road and the barrier without large poles lining the road which block the view and are expensive.

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#118

Post by seanmcdirmid »

ceejayoz wrote: post #32
aianus wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure about (b) since you'd need to buy two cars unless your boss will accept "but it was raining" as an excuse not to show up for work.

A self-driving car hardly has to be only self-driving.

Eventually for cities like Beijing to optimize congested transportation infrastructure, it would have to be.

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#119

Post by [deleted] »

thematt wrote: post #95
augustl wrote: post #35

I own a 2013 XC60 and as a programmer, I'm amazed at how well their current automation works in practice. The car reads road signs to show me the current speed limit in the dash (actual OCR, not a GPS database). It works amazingly well, except when it's very dark in the winter. Adaptive cruise control flawlessly follows cars based on radar, even in somewhat dramatic full stops, e.g. when there's suddenly heavy traffi…

Why would it bother OCR'ing road signs? That seems much more error prone and needlessly complex. That data is readily available from a data sources based on your GPS location, I know TomToms and other navigation devices have it.

[deleted]

Re: Volvo’s first self-driving cars now being tested live on public roads in Sweden

#120

Post by mkempe »

thematt wrote: post #95
augustl wrote: post #35

I own a 2013 XC60 and as a programmer, I'm amazed at how well their current automation works in practice. The car reads road signs to show me the current speed limit in the dash (actual OCR, not a GPS database). It works amazingly well, except when it's very dark in the winter. Adaptive cruise control flawlessly follows cars based on radar, even in somewhat dramatic full stops, e.g. when there's suddenly heavy traffi…

Why would it bother OCR'ing road signs? That seems much more error prone and needlessly complex. That data is readily available from a data sources based on your GPS location, I know TomToms and other navigation devices have it.

Maybe because their goal is to steadily build a car system that can read the environment and adapt speed and direction based on the actual situation? a map is not the territory.

The latest models also detect pedestrians, bikes, and even animals -- and the car sets off an alarm and brakes so that we don't run over them. High beams are politely turned off when meeting another car, as well as when passing near pedestrians. The software also performs lane detection, shows you where you're heading when moving in reverse, signals to the driver when another vehicle is close by to the left or right, even if you can't seen them in the rearview mirrors.

Volvo has a goal of preventing or mitigating accidents to such an extent that by 2020 nobody will die in a Volvo when there is a car accident. Their commitment to the safety of car passengers was such that they let everyone freely use their patented seat-belt system when they improved it. They've been running a team in Sweden for decades that travels to every single car accident involving a Volvo, so that they can understand the causes and consequences of the accident, sometimes even repeat the event in lab conditions -- and they can improve the cars accordingly.

Yes, we own a (new) Volvo -- we picked it up at the factory in Sweden, drove around Europe for a few weeks, and returned it for them to ship it over to our US address.

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