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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

#161

Post by augustl »

malandrew wrote: post #155
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…

My gut feeling tells me that there should be a mandate that requires all safety software to be open-source and liberally licensed. Safety should be very much part of the commons and we all lose out when this type of software isn't shared freely. Building high quality safety software and sharing it with all car manufacturers wins way more brownie points in my book than using it as a selling point.

Someone in this thread mentioned that Volvo let anyone use their patented seat belt design. So there's at least a tiny speck of light in the end of the tunnel :)

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

#162

Post by warbastard »

glenra wrote: post #60
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.

I have two use cases in mind: (1) Delivery-bot. A car that drives itself to drop off a package and only delivers on non-rainy days. (if you need delivery on a rainy day, you pay extra for a person-driven delivery service. Otherwise the package waits at the warehouse) (2) Transport option for people who can't or shouldn't drive themselves - too old, too blind, too young, or physically impaired. The self-driving car ta…

While in England, the delivery bots would work 2 weeks a year.

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

#163

Post by ptr »

jpatokal wrote: post #146
mkempe wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you meant this as a joke.. however, Volvo cars do watch for pedestrians and automatically stop for them if needs be. In the worst case, there is an external airbag that will deploy in front of the windshield to avoid the worst types of injuries based on decades of analysis of car accidents with pedestrians (in Sweden).

Except when they don't, as demonstrated in the rather famous fail below during a PR demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcJ9xgBZJdI The explanation was "The failure of the test was due to the dummy not being set up properly", which I find rather less than reassuring. http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/volvo-crash-test-goes-wro...

That's like Gate's BSOD during the demo of PnP. Works now, doesn't it? ;)

On the 'up side'; if the pedestrian safety air bag fails, it'll be just like any other car.

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

#164

Post by AaronIG »

koenigdavidmj wrote: post #106
mandeepj wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>* Licensing for a car is time-limited. I think this is about 10 years or so. In US it is 4 years. I was surprised to see that low time frame as in India it is at least 20 years. And, in US, you are also required to renew your registration plates every year

What I mean is "you're not allowed to register a car again after that point". Most people sell it across the Strait in Malaysia. This distinguishes them from the US and India, where you can drive a car until it doesn't work anymore. Also, your US numbers of course vary by state.

> Also, your US numbers of course vary by state.

For example, Arizona driver's licenses don't expire until the person's 65th birthday (and every five years thereafter).

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

#165

Post by ollebro »

dalke wrote: post #89
PeterisP wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you actually have them in Sweden? I was taught similar rules back when getting a driving licence, but it doesn't neccessarily mean that such intersections exist - I was told about intersections that were like that in 1960ies, but those spots have traffic lights now.

I biked through one yesterday, in Trollhättan. If you do an image search for "flervägsstopp" you'll find several images, including this one which is specifically a four-way stop: http://www.trafikmagasinet.nu/art090503.htm . If you're more curious, see http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/3038/komplett_slutrappo... , among others. That one talks about how they were tested out during the 1980s, and by 2007 there were…

We have a lot of them in Trollhättan. And roundabouts, holy shit the amount of roundabouts in this city.

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

#166

Post by ollebro »

jareds wrote: post #42

I wonder what the first country that will allow completely automated cars with no human driver is? As a blind person I wonder if that would be enough to have me consider migrating from the U.S. depending on the country.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was Sweden. Most cars you see on the road are Volvos and most new sold cars are Volvos.

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

#168

Post by lmm »

squidsoup wrote: post #128
ommunist wrote: post #109

This will probably not work in Britain. Especially at one particular roundabout on the Isle of Dogs. http://goo.gl/8AqnLE <~ See for yourself.

Can't help but think some of the traffic engineers in the UK are a little bonkers, see Swindon's Magic Roundabout ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon) ).

Americans are always awed/terrified by the Magic Roundabout, but it's actually very practical (turning right is much easier than on a single big roundabout, and the whole thing moves better), and straightforward to use even for newcomers (well, assuming you've used roundabouts at all - I understand America doesn't have many of them?)

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

#169

Post by vidarh »

ollebro wrote: post #166
jareds wrote: post #42

I wonder what the first country that will allow completely automated cars with no human driver is? As a blind person I wonder if that would be enough to have me consider migrating from the U.S. depending on the country.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was Sweden. Most cars you see on the road are Volvos and most new sold cars are Volvos.

Volvo is the manufacturer with the highest market share, but it still "only" has 20% of the market, so it's by no means "most cars".

(source: Volvo Cars press release: https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressrele... )

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

#170

Post by nigekelly »

Very interested in this space and how it will end up. We have a big emotional attachment to cars evidenced by the fact that the annual cost of taking taxis everywhere is probably cheaper than the annual costs of owning a car if you live in a city. NYC habitants have probably made this transition already.

SO if we end up with self driving taxis then this form of transport will become ridiculously cheap as the driver's salary is now eliminated. The rationale to own a car will become harder to justify.

Also I read recently that our actual usage of cars is very low over a year. This means huge inefficiency. There is plenty of spare capacity per car to do alot more journeys. If we all start taking self driving taxis that run 24x7 in a few years time where does that leave the car companies. One assumes with far fewer car sales. Are they shooting themselves in the foot?

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