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Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

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Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#151

Post by closetnerd »

BukhariH wrote: post #7
manticore_alpha wrote: post #2

Unfortunately, these things just don't have a cool factor. Here's to hoping Tesla moves forward much more quickly (and regular car manufacturers as well.) It's something Google probably just doesn't "get" - but a lot of people's identities are tied to their cars. It's why we have colors, shapes, brands, options. This car may be "perfect" algorithmically, but it doesn't mean it stirs the soul.

Google is not a car company. They don't want to compete with professional car designers. What Google wants to do is create a car that is not aggressive in it's design because they want other road users to feel comfortable around a self driving car. I think they learnt from their mistake with Glass, where it was far too alien/futuristic and hence a lot of people rejected it. Whilst this car isn't futuristic at all but…

It's boring. This car says you have no imagination, no spontaneity, you're extremely practical, possibly OCD, with a German sense of humor.

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#152

Post by krapp »

eru wrote: post #126
krapp wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to be honest - the last thing I think of when I look at it is "safe." Maybe that's just because I'm an American and feel the need to put as much iron between me and everyone else as I can. It's cute, and non-threatening looking, and probably the right design for what it is, but people are still going to look at it and think "this is going to get destroyed if a real car hits it."

There are (at least) two kinds of people Google needs to convince. First, people who will sit in a self-driving car; and that's already done. Second, people who share the road with a self-driving car. You are right `unthreatening' is the better word than the ambiguous `safe' here. PS I think you are too American there. They don't drive tanks on the road in every country. But I see your concern.

Fair enough.

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#153

Post by closetnerd »

dougmany wrote: post #8
manticore_alpha wrote: post #2

Unfortunately, these things just don't have a cool factor. Here's to hoping Tesla moves forward much more quickly (and regular car manufacturers as well.) It's something Google probably just doesn't "get" - but a lot of people's identities are tied to their cars. It's why we have colors, shapes, brands, options. This car may be "perfect" algorithmically, but it doesn't mean it stirs the soul.

I disagree. I think we find identity in our car because we a pilot them in a similar way we pilot our bodies. As we get less involved in the control of the vehicle, we will care less about how it looks/feels. Taxi cabs are a good example of this.

I disagree. Most people driving around are not racing drivers so they're not "one with the car" so they don't treat it like there bodies. They're more likely to treat it as an accessory.

More over, I quite enjoy driving so I'm not interesting in relinquishing control of the vehicle.

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#154

Post by toyg »

eru wrote: post #132
toyg wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With self driving cars ownership will likely disappear That's a bold statement. It might become more of a luxury, i.e. something you buy when you reach a certain income, rather than something you need to live. But disappear, no, it won't. As anecdote, I can bring the experience of European life. In a lot of European towns and cities, you can live quite comfortably without a car, today -- after all, they were built…

> Rich people (or people who want to be seen as wealthy) still buy huge SUVs -- and then struggle to park them, because they're not as thin as a horse. Do Europeans really by SUVs like that? I was under the impression a sports car like a Porsche (or even Ferrari) would be the grander status symbol?

Don't underestimate the influence of US culture; SUVs are the new "estate Mercedes" over here.

Sports car are really quite gauche, the realm of sheiks, footballers and crass salesmen. Old Money, industrialists, politicians and affluent professionals will buy SUVs for the day-to-day.

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#155

Post by DougWebb »

billsossoon wrote: post #96
amckenna wrote: post #25

A lot of people are bashing the car's appearance, but I think people forget that putting the first driverless cars on the road is as much a PR challenge as it is a technological challenge. Truly autonomous driverless cars is a huge shift in the way we have operated for almost 100 years. There will be a lot of caution and resistance from political groups, concerned citizens, entrenched interests, etc. The car that the…

This is also a prime opportunity to question the idea of traveling at 85 mph in 4,000 lb. metal boxes that get 13 mpg. In my town, many parents put their newly-licensed teenage children behind the wheels of enormous SUVs in the name of safety, simultaneously reducing the safety of everyone around them. If tanks were street legal, we'd probably have 16 year old kids barreling down the road in them.

Aren't most tanks driven by teenagers already? Of course, they get very specialized training, but it still shows that teens can handle that responsibility under the right circumstances.

Actually, I don't really know: how old are the soldiers in a typical tank crew? I guess they might have a couple of years in the service before they get into a tank, so maybe they're early 20's rather than teens.

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#156

Post by sparkzilla »

berberous wrote: post #13
sparkzilla wrote: post #3

This thing looks like a clown car. Perfect for those who think Glass is the height of fashion.

I suspect that may be deliberate, so that safety worries are minimized. You look at this car and think, I'd probably be the one to survive in a head-to-head collision with my SUV. The first driverless cars need to appear as least threatening as possible.

You really think this will survive a crash with an SUV? It looks very flimsy.

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#157

Post by jedunnigan »

ericd wrote: post #149
jedunnigan wrote: post #103

I don't have a firm enough understanding of how the LIDAR and laser's work in these vehicles, but it occurs to me that it might be possible for a malicious actor to confuse the cars and cause accidents. That's concerning.

Those LIDARs are a spinning array of lasers measuring time of flight for each laser as it spins. Each of ~64 lasers forms one scan line all around itself, and by taking all the scan lines together, they form a rough picture of the 3D structure of the surroundings. You can filter out aberrant inputs in software.

Interesting, thanks!

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#158

Post by aetherson »

millstone wrote: post #119
zanny wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won't lease or own self driving cars. That makes no sense. You will just subscribe to a drive service if you drive a lot or just pay per ride and have one pick you up. I easily see you scheduling regular events (leave for work at 8, for example) and your car will be out front waiting each day.

Isn't owning typically cheaper than renting? Anyways, it makes no sense that everyone on my block owns their own lawnmower, and yet here we are.

Renting a property or object that you are the sole user of is typically more expensive than owning.

Renting a property or object that you are one of many users of is typically less expensive than owning. For instance, you don't imagine that renting one of those steam-carpet cleaners from the grocery store once every year or two is more expensive than owning one, right?

(Renting is more expensive than purely your share of the use -- that is, if the steam cleaner gets rented by 100 people in a year, you expect to pay more than 1% of the yearly total cost of ownership of the cleaner).

So the concept is that say you effectively use maybe 1/5th to 1/3rd of a car's capacity in a ride-for-hire situation, and so you pay say 25%-40% of the total cost of ownership, allowing a reasonable profit margin for the owner. (Or you use much less, but in that case you probably were never going to own a car).

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#159

Post by kuboa »

iandanforth wrote: post #146
derefr wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The car that they put forward first needs to be non-threatening, safe, and easy to adopt. Moreover, I think Google wants their car to be recognizable as a driverless car . They don't want it to blend in, because people would (at least for now) think that was "spooky"—that any car anywhere around them could be being secretly driven by a robot. Instead, the visual distinctness means that it's instantly clear that the…

Plastic bags actually. A plastic bag looks pretty solid to most sensors and cars have been known stop suddenly when one flies in front of the car.

And they should stop, and err on the side of caution. An anecdotal digression, if you'll allow me: I'll never forget the time when a plastic bag was gently flitting across the highway a friend and I was traveling on, in that nonchalant manner plastic bags usually do, and how we, not giving it even a second thought, drove right through it... Except we couldn't, since it turned out there was actually a small picnic-type propane tank inside the bag, rolling on the asphalt, and our car's motor was totaled by the impact, though thankfully we didn't suffer any serious injuries.

Re: Google Self-Driving Car Project's first vehicle prototype

#160

Post by moe »

graycat wrote: post #128
amckenna wrote: post #25

A lot of people are bashing the car's appearance, but I think people forget that putting the first driverless cars on the road is as much a PR challenge as it is a technological challenge. Truly autonomous driverless cars is a huge shift in the way we have operated for almost 100 years. There will be a lot of caution and resistance from political groups, concerned citizens, entrenched interests, etc. The car that the…

Do they really have driverless cars or just cars that run on essentially electronic tracks very carefully determined? If someone moves the location of a traffic light, can a Google car still find the traffic light? Wbat if a bulb in the traffic light is burned out; is the car smart enough to negotiate the intersection with the failed light? What if a bucket of white paint fell on the road yesterday; is the Google car…

A Google car can do that?

Yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsaES--OTzM

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