Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#141

Post by JoeAltmaier » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:01 PM UTC

Klathmon wrote: post #139

sundvor wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty impressive. Still, at 00:54, getting a closer look at the female runners? Someone following could have gotten caught out if driving too close / playing Pokemon. A human driver (well, at least myself) would simply have lifted the foot off the accelerator somewhat and drifted closer to the centre line when passing - seeing as there was no oncoming traffic.

Perhaps the car knows it's own capabilities better than we humans do. Maybe it knows that if the joggers were to suddenly jump out, doing what you or I would do isn't enough, so it slowed down to a near stop just in case. Also, it's a bit of a "blind corner", so drifting out toward the middle of the lane might not be the best idea (again, even though it's probably something I as a person in that scenario would have d…

I've wondered about this. Totally defensive driving would reduce a car to 5mph - somebody might jump out from behind every blind corner or mailbox.

Truth is, we all drive fairly irresponsibly, trusting in the rules of the road and human self-preservation to keep most stuff out of our way. And if we do hit somebody who dashes out on the freeway, well that's an accident or 'their fault' or 'nobody's fault' so no foul.

Will we allow automated drivers that privilege?

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#142

Post by Fricken » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:05 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #86

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely yes. I can't wait for that day. We'll end up saving more lives per year than if we somehow banished war, at least in industrialized countries. What's weird is the period we're entering, where the technology is becoming more and more capable, but we're still a very long ways away from full auto. Yet the hype machine says it's just around the corner. I'm betting we're still 10-15 years out. So how do we hand…

> What's weird is the period we're entering, where the technology is becoming more and more capable, but we're still a very long ways away from full auto. Yet the hype machine says it's just around the corner. I think it would be worthwhile to figure out how to shut down the hype machine , or at least tune it down a few notches. Dreams and visions are fine, but every time I switch the current tab from HN to Facebook,…

It's interesting, though, to see rise of the robots talk breach tech circles and enter into mainstream economic and political discussions. Between the arrival of imagenet in 2011 and now the drums have been steadily getting louder.

In 2013 an oft-cited and alarming study out of oxford suggesting most jobs will be automated over the next decade was released. It was followed by a series of influential books whose authors ran the lecture circuit: 'The Second Machine Age', 'The Zero Marginal Cost Society', 'Superintelligence', and 'The Rise of the Robots'.

There were some bold bold and well publicized statements from respected luminaries such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking.

Aggressive maneuvering to hoover up machine learning talent, and bold investments from automakers pursuing autonomous driving has only added gasoline to the fire.

Automation became the talk of the town at Davos in Switzerland. There's been a rising chorus from Basic Income supporters.

Now the hype is out of control. Nobody is actually looking at the technology. It's okay, though. Hype is self-correcting.

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#143

Post by Qantourisc » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:10 PM UTC

cel1ne wrote: post #80

martin_bech wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my autopilot gen 1 Tesla, when the software was first released, lane markings had to be really clear, but as the software has matured, it now does less than perfect lane marking in pretty heavy rain without issue.

What does it do on roads without any lane-markings? My country has lot's of them outside the cities.

Or heavy rain will do the same. When it's dark and rainy, we often have to drive almost blind here.

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#144

Post by kozak » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:13 PM UTC

GreyTheory wrote: post #130

Klathmon wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious what that button does? Does it go full "emergency brake" mode and stop the car ASAP, or does it give control back to the driver? I could see the former being useful during development, but I wouldn't want a "slam on the brakes" button in my car. And the latter could be much more easily worked out by just switching under any driver input on the steering wheel.

I work in the automotive industry for a manufacturer. All of our prototypes have big emergency stop buttons in the center console using 3D printed adapters to slot into the cup holders. They just kill the engine and disconnect the battery. It's a legal requirement. Nothing fancy.

So if you are at speed, the car starts engine-braking (with no proper brake force distribution between front and rear wheels), and the power steering isn't working, right?

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#145

Post by zantana » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:21 PM UTC

LeonM wrote: post #10

I don't know about other countries, but at least in the Netherlands the Benny Hill song is used mainly in videos to ridicule the subject. I remember when funny 'Home Videos' were a thing on TV (before cats took over on the interweb) this song was used in about 90% of them. So to me, using this song in something as serious as a self driving car demonstration is pretty weird.

I suspect it has to do with the video being sped up the same as the segments on the Benny Hill were, which masks one of the challenges of the self driving car. From my experiences, at least the northeastern us, driving the speed limit, in the traffic density shown in the demo, almost instantly attracts tailgating drivers who want to go faster.

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#146

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:22 PM UTC

rebuilder wrote: post #81

kalleboo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Autodriving 90% of the time would be a fantastic feature. Autodriving 100% of the time is where it gets revolutionary (mass-layoffs of truck drivers, taxi drivers, summon features that park cheaply outside of downtown). The former is great, but there's a lot of hype going around right now so it's not strange for people to be cynical.

Forget parking, the cars would be driving, ferrying people and goods around, as much as possible when not charging. No need to own one, just hail one when you need a ride.

[deleted]

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#147

Post by kalleboo » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:25 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #82

kalleboo wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> needed to convince buyers Buyers were convinced by "cruise control", which just (barely) keeps a set speed.

s/convince buyers/avoid mass accidents caused by drivers becoming even less attentive than they're now/. Cruise control doesn't cause that, but a "90% there" self-driving solution will.

Certainly. That's a completely unrelated debate though.

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#148

Post by aaossa » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:29 PM UTC

visarga wrote: post #71

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Throw in some fog, high-speed stop-and-go interstate fun, and moving from the interstate into a crowded city full of people jaywalking and running stoplights trying to get to where they're going.

Can we use a game environment to artificially synthesize scenarios? I don't know if there are any that can generate realistic video.

A few months ago I red about researchers using GTA V to train some self driving algorithms. I googled it and it looks good

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#149

Post by rbobby » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:34 PM UTC

Ok... I'm officially old now. I've been keen on the idea of self driving up until now. Watching this just makes me want to grab the wheel... too much traffic, too many people on the side of the road... nope I don't think would I be comfortable.

Oh well... I guess I'll have to wait for the mini-van style with blacked out windows :)

Re: Autopilot Full Self-Driving Demonstration [video]

#150

Post by bbarn » Sat, Nov 19, 2016, 2:39 PM UTC

kayoone wrote: post #133

annerajb wrote: post #60

What's the most amazing is that Elon mentioned on twitter that it's only using data gathered in the past month since they announced the hardware/first video.

But why wouldn't they use old training data to make it even better ?

Could be because there'd be assertions made under the old system, that were later found to be unhelpful or unwise?