Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 64 posts

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#51

Post by jack-r-abbit »

mc32 wrote: post #45
jessaustin wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most self-driving cars won't be stored in our garages, because we won't own them. That's one of their big advantages.

I might want to back it up just tight at the Ikea dock to pick something up. Don't let "garage" get in the way of thinking of why you might need to take over manual steering. As amply exemplified above, single lane situation with two way traffic.

That could be solved easily (and probably more accurately) by just having a few nudge buttons or some other UI. Use them for those "Move left a few more inches" or "Back up just a little more" situations. These cars should be able to do fine maneuvering/adjustments much better than a lot of people can.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#52

Post by stephengillie »

vonmoltke wrote: post #49
stephengillie wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I am engaging in a false analogy. My intention was to humorously showcase specialized tools at a much further level of differentiation. And a passenger car is as different from a panel (flatbed) truck as a hand-driven gasoline car is from a solar-powered self-driving car. I was attempting to highlight that these tools have nearly equivalent purposes, but the educated consumer would have a definite preference for…

> And a passenger car is as different from a panel (flatbed) truck as a hand-driven gasoline car is from a solar-powered self-driving car. I disagree. The function of a panel truck is the transport of bulky and heavy materials. The function of a passenger car is the transport of people with fairly small amounts of materials. Changing the power plant or control system does not change these fundamental functions or fun…

My apologies for coming up with an imperfect analogy. In the future, I will endeavor to find a perfect analogy before I attempt to use it humorously.

Thank you for taking the time to show me the error of my ways. What would HN be without people like you to clear up analogical inconsistencies?

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#53

Post by gambiting »

jessaustin wrote: post #39
gambiting wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rare? Where? Where I live we get a very heavy snowfall in Winter, and even a regular trip to shops ends in me trying to get moving again by rocking the car back and forth to get out of snow. Unless automatic vehicles will drive only on clean, dry roads in pristine condition?

[EDIT] OK you have snow tires. Then what's the deal? I've lived in snowbound places, without snow tires, and rarely had difficulty getting moving again after parking half an hour to shop. Sure, if you leave your car in a bad spot during a snowstorm you'll have problems in the morning, but most robocars will never have that problem, because they will only park in safe secure areas and only during the 2AM-5AM "quiet" p…

I have a set of snow tyres, and chains are illegal on regular roads, even in snow.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#54

Post by jessaustin »

mc32 wrote: post #45
jessaustin wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most self-driving cars won't be stored in our garages, because we won't own them. That's one of their big advantages.

I might want to back it up just tight at the Ikea dock to pick something up. Don't let "garage" get in the way of thinking of why you might need to take over manual steering. As amply exemplified above, single lane situation with two way traffic.

Ikea already delivers. It's difficult to imagine that they'll deliver less when they won't have to hire drivers to do so. The robo-delivery-van won't only lack a steering wheel, it will lack a seat. I envision doors on the front, and sliding dividers that push the next delivery forward when the van backs out of the driveway of the preceding delivery.

These will not be cars as we have known them. Most people today don't like cars as we have known them, nor the cruft that has built around that. A vocal minority here on HN really likes cars, exactly as they are, and they don't want to hear about these changes. That's OK, people who want to waste money on old-timey cars will be able to do so, for at least a few decades.

If not have a steering wheel blows your mind, hold on: which direction do you think the front seats will face, in the typical robocar?

[EDIT] I'm dreaming of a time when few people buy cars, so we'll no longer be plagued with car commercials.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#55

Post by xefer »

There's got to be some way to transition to fully autonomous cars that could be implemented.

I'd really like to see something that would put a hard limit of ~15mph/25kmh on city streets for all motor vehicles. Upon entering a high-density zone, the car would automatically be put into a state with limits on speed, acceleration, horse power and adherence to traffic controls.

People would still be behind the wheel but they would be severely restricted in how they operate within the high density zone. Basically this would make horseless carriages be conducted in a manner more similar to horse carriages.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#56

Post by slantyyz »

jessaustin wrote: post #39
gambiting wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rare? Where? Where I live we get a very heavy snowfall in Winter, and even a regular trip to shops ends in me trying to get moving again by rocking the car back and forth to get out of snow. Unless automatic vehicles will drive only on clean, dry roads in pristine condition?

[EDIT] OK you have snow tires. Then what's the deal? I've lived in snowbound places, without snow tires, and rarely had difficulty getting moving again after parking half an hour to shop. Sure, if you leave your car in a bad spot during a snowstorm you'll have problems in the morning, but most robocars will never have that problem, because they will only park in safe secure areas and only during the 2AM-5AM "quiet" p…

>> I've lived in snowbound places, without snow tires, and rarely had difficulty getting moving again

That is a YMMV statement.

I live in Canada, and after a major snowfall, I've seen plenty people get stuck --while-- driving on residential streets that hadn't been plowed yet. Starting from a stop and going up hills are often a problem in that situation too.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#57

Post by slantyyz »

jessaustin wrote: post #41
mc32 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok how about navigating into my garage? Maybe I want extra space on the left this time?

Most self-driving cars won't be stored in our garages, because we won't own them. That's one of their big advantages.

I would buy one if I could. There's something to be said about having instant access to a car vs. having to wait for one to arrive.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#58

Post by mc32 »

jessaustin wrote: post #54
mc32 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might want to back it up just tight at the Ikea dock to pick something up. Don't let "garage" get in the way of thinking of why you might need to take over manual steering. As amply exemplified above, single lane situation with two way traffic.

Ikea already delivers. It's difficult to imagine that they'll deliver less when they won't have to hire drivers to do so. The robo-delivery-van won't only lack a steering wheel, it will lack a seat. I envision doors on the front, and sliding dividers that push the next delivery forward when the van backs out of the driveway of the preceding delivery. These will not be cars as we have known them. Most people today don…

One positive thing of emasculating ourselves from cars will be the dear of the car chase trope in French, Chinese, American, Australian, Indian and Nigerian cinema.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#59

Post by vbnmvbnmvbnm »

Alternate Title: Two sentences explaining why I will never own a self driving car.

Seriously, I'll only trust trains on rails with autonomous operation, and it's profoundly stupid of any country to let autonomous machines operate freely on open roads.

The political implications of autonomous machinery with nigh-unbounded geographic reach are deeply hazardous.

Re: Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

#60

Post by vbnmvbnmvbnm »

vbnmvbnmvbnm wrote: post #59

Alternate Title: Two sentences explaining why I will never own a self driving car. Seriously, I'll only trust trains on rails with autonomous operation, and it's profoundly stupid of any country to let autonomous machines operate freely on open roads. The political implications of autonomous machinery with nigh-unbounded geographic reach are deeply hazardous.

Downvote, downvote, downvote.
Post reply on HN