It is easy to explain no manual control. Google will include insurance cost into the service itself. If there is any accident, Google's insurance plan will cover it. If there is manual control, the insurance cost will be a mess, since you have to factor in the driving record of the person who is in the car. This alone would be a show stopper.
Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
141–150 of 322 posts
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#142It seems like a mistake to remove manual controls entirely, not necessarily because of safety concerns, but because there are a fair number of times when you need the car to go somewhere without having a route. I'm thinking of things like: Moving your car ten feet so somebody else can get out of the driveway; handling double parking during alternate side parking hours; moving the car because you were waiting to pick…
These sort of low speed manoeuvers are in my opinion quite awkward with traditional control and viewing systems, which is presumably why there has been so much development of parking sensors and cameras, and now automatic parking. I think many people would prefer being able to set where they want the car to go on a top down schematic/plan and let the automated control systems wrangle the car into place.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#143The video shows a rotating camera at the top of the car that's scanning for objects (I guess). What's the advantage of a mechanical rotary movement over an array of cameras that give a continuous 360 degree view (e.g. the street view cars)?
Update : Found a link : http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402516,00.asp In an interview last week, Stuart Woods, the executive vice president of Velodyne, which manufactures the LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) rotating module that sits atop Google's autonomous vehicles, said that his company has started developing prototype security systems that could be trialed within the next year. The Velodyne LIDAR HDL-64E and HDL-32E modules use an array of either 64 or 32 lasers to electronically "see" the environment, Woods said. On Google's car, the module is set inside a rotating drum. Its lasers complement Google's own mapping software and GPS data, which help orient the car on the road. The LIDAR provides additional positional data, but also identifies other cars, bicycles, pedestrians, and road hazards.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#144The video shows a rotating camera at the top of the car that's scanning for objects (I guess). What's the advantage of a mechanical rotary movement over an array of cameras that give a continuous 360 degree view (e.g. the street view cars)? Update : Found a link : http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402516,00.asp In an interview last week, Stuart Woods, the executive vice president of Velodyne, which manufactures t…
If I'm not mistaken, the "camera" at the top sends a very thin, concentrated vertical beam to detect objects. To implement it in the way you described, you'd need quite a few cameras (100+) to get the same precision.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
How about something simple like telling the car, "back up 10 feet" or "move to the spot across the street". This is dead simple short range routes...
How does one "tell" the car what to do without controls ? I hope you're not suggesting voice recognition because anything less than 100% accuracy will guarantee accidents and possibly deaths.
The same way you tell it drive anywhere else without controls.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#146The video shows a rotating camera at the top of the car that's scanning for objects (I guess). What's the advantage of a mechanical rotary movement over an array of cameras that give a continuous 360 degree view (e.g. the street view cars)? Update : Found a link : http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402516,00.asp In an interview last week, Stuart Woods, the executive vice president of Velodyne, which manufactures t…
If I'm not mistaken, the "camera" at the top sends a very thin, concentrated vertical beam to detect objects. To implement it in the way you described, you'd need quite a few cameras (100+) to get the same precision.
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Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#147It seems like a mistake to remove manual controls entirely, not necessarily because of safety concerns, but because there are a fair number of times when you need the car to go somewhere without having a route. I'm thinking of things like: Moving your car ten feet so somebody else can get out of the driveway; handling double parking during alternate side parking hours; moving the car because you were waiting to pick…
How about something simple like telling the car, "back up 10 feet" or "move to the spot across the street". This is dead simple short range routes...
There also needs to be a 'pause for others' button so that a motorist in a side street can be let in to a congested road or for a motorist on the opposite side of the road wanting to turn can make their move. This is the usual scenario where a motorist flashes their lights to let someone through.
As a cyclist/pedestrian I am always amazed by this altruistic side of motorists and it would be a shame if 'the computer said no'. A little 'be nice' button could be a cool feature.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think, too, that there's a logical disconnect between "we focused on learning, not luxury", and "we want to hear about what you want in a vehicle where you sit back and enjoy the ride" (probably, to most, -not- a dearth of comforts).
Think of this as a bike-commute substitute with a roof.
that's a terrible analogy :) ! more like a taxi without having to speak to the driver or a personal bus.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#149It seems like a mistake to remove manual controls entirely, not necessarily because of safety concerns, but because there are a fair number of times when you need the car to go somewhere without having a route. I'm thinking of things like: Moving your car ten feet so somebody else can get out of the driveway; handling double parking during alternate side parking hours; moving the car because you were waiting to pick…
you could just plug in a joystick
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. Not sure I agree with the first point. People hunting for a parking space once a day likely causes less pollution then a car driving itself to a charging station or depot twice a day. Plus, if these are an affordable method of commuting, you're going to be pulling people away from public transportation, and getting more vehicles on the road. If they're more expensive, then you'll just have people buying their own,…
1. Public transport will still be cheaper, so it will still have its place. And I think we'll see small charging spaces that autonomous vehicles can use every block or so. Plus parking for these vehicles will be dense and save loads of space - it is obscene how much of our space is dedicated to parking. I think we'll also see something in between a typical commuting vehicle and a bus. If 10 people in a specific area…
A bus is possible, but if this was a viable business, it should exist already. The only difference is the cost of the driver, so the automated bus might save passengers $5/day. Is that $5/day extra cost keeping this business non-existent at the moment? I'm a little skeptical.
Keep in mind your taxi service is cheap because it's on the road all the time. A taxi might make $250/day, and pay the driver half of that cost. That means the company is making $125/day per taxi. You're one of 15 or 20 people taking that taxi in a day, so the $15 trip is possible. If everyone was taking an automated car to work, they need to pay the majority of that $125/day price. Split it with 4 people, and that's just over $30/day each. Kind of expensive. Add more people and we're turning into a bus or public transit again.
Work schedules offset would help everything all around. If some people worked 7-3, 8-4, 9-5, 10-6, 11-7, etc, then we could decrease rush hour traffic, and use the cars multiple times to lower the price to $10/day, which starts to become interesting.
I like your idea of buying a car, adding it to a network, and getting money back when you're not using it.