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Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

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Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#201

Post by Sanddancer »

doomlaser wrote: post #29
noahl wrote: post #10

I think the biggest news was this sentence: If all goes well, we’d like to run a small pilot program here in California in the next couple of years. This is the next step in their very slow but, apparently, very steady march towards real self-driving cars that anyone can buy.

Why buy a self driving car when you could rent one as needed?

Personally, I don't drive; it freaks me the hell out. However, I've got a housemate who does drive, and he has several thousand dollars worth of ham radio equipment installed in his car. I also have friends who do volunteer fire work and other first response type duties. Doing things like that in a rental would be near impossible.

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#202

Post by kteofanidis »

tejaswiy wrote: post #12

I find it cute how most of the people still are not comfortable taking their eyes off the road.

To be fair I'm not comfortable taking my eyes off the road as a passenger with a human driver. I think people underestimate the fear of not having control. This will be a major issue to overcome and for some it will be like the fear of flying on a commercial aircraft. The fact they know it's safe doesn't really help much.

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#203

Post by pc86 »

revelation wrote: post #192

The comments here are rather disappointing. It doesn't have manual controls? Well thats the point! I want to leave my crap in it and paint it some ugly color? Get with the times, young people already opt to not own cars. I can't double park in the city? Why are you imposing your steel box on people living in cities, many of which do not own cars and want walkable streets? I mean, this is the news website for a startu…

Is a car parked on a street really an imposition on you?

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#204

Post by MattPearce »

Oculus wrote: post #30

Tesla (or insert company willing to go big on electric cars) and Google really need to team up on this. Self driving cars have the potential to completely do away with owning personal cars. Imagine a new public/private service that allows people to travel where & when they want without having to deal with the hassles or cost of owning a car. With the added centralization, the headaches that electric cars cause can be…

The video suggests these cars are probably being built in Tesla's factory - the white-painted walls and red-painted machinery are pretty unique to Tesla. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqSDWoAhvLU#t=58

(Also note that "Rotary Lift", the brand seen at that point in the video, is the exclusive supplier of vehicle lifts to Tesla - http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tesla-motors-chooses...)

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#205

Post by m0nty »

revelation wrote: post #192

The comments here are rather disappointing. It doesn't have manual controls? Well thats the point! I want to leave my crap in it and paint it some ugly color? Get with the times, young people already opt to not own cars. I can't double park in the city? Why are you imposing your steel box on people living in cities, many of which do not own cars and want walkable streets? I mean, this is the news website for a startu…

> The comments here are rather disappointing.

Most of them remind me of Clifford Stoll's famous rant:

http://www.newsweek.com/clifford-stoll-why-web-wont-be-nirva...

"This new thing isn't like the old thing, so it could never work."

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#206

Post by serf »

enscr wrote: post #143

The 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…

I don't know why they chose it, but off the top of my head :

1) possibly less production cost. an individual laser module is likely more costly than the mechanism to rotate a single one.

2) fewer channels of data often means less processing overhead.

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#207

Post by usaphp »

revelation wrote: post #192

The comments here are rather disappointing. It doesn't have manual controls? Well thats the point! I want to leave my crap in it and paint it some ugly color? Get with the times, young people already opt to not own cars. I can't double park in the city? Why are you imposing your steel box on people living in cities, many of which do not own cars and want walkable streets? I mean, this is the news website for a startu…

> young people already opt to not own cars.

Really? Any study on this matter?

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#208

Post by e98cuenc »

pc86 wrote: post #203
revelation wrote: post #192

The comments here are rather disappointing. It doesn't have manual controls? Well thats the point! I want to leave my crap in it and paint it some ugly color? Get with the times, young people already opt to not own cars. I can't double park in the city? Why are you imposing your steel box on people living in cities, many of which do not own cars and want walkable streets? I mean, this is the news website for a startu…

Is a car parked on a street really an imposition on you?

It is (indirectly) to me. I often visit the US, and I'm always amazed that I can't seem to go anywhere walking. The distances to go anywhere are huge. It seems to be that way because cities in the US where designed / build with cars in mind.

In Europe cities were obviously not build with cars in mind, and as a result I enjoy here a much higher density of amenities (and suffer much worse driving conditions / parking time).

Having all this space available for cars is not transparent to pedestrians.

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#209

Post by arrrg »

DanBC wrote: post #189
arrrg wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As was already said, some people get sick. Also, many more people prefer to be facing forward on a train. I know I personally do. Sure, I can handle facing backward with no problems, but I just prefer facing forward.

I much prefer facing backwards, because I know in the rare case of crash that I am going to be much safer. This is also true of aircraft and cars and buses and coaches. Sadly, most people do feel uncomfortable facing backwards and so the risky forwards-facing seating is used.

I really don’t think that kind of risk mitigation is of much utility.

Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle

#210

Post by doc_holliday »

Can't wait till these work on country roads!

Would really free me up from living in the city I work. Can get work and other things done on the commute to work. Or live miles away and telecommute work most days then travel overnight whilst sleeping for times I need to be in the office.

Best yet, I can go on nights out without worrying about driving home / paying taxi.

The other maniacs and safety of country roads has always put me off commuting from rural areas, but this really changes that!

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