Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

Post by kamaal » Thu, Aug 18, 2016, 6:57 PM UTC

technofiend wrote: post #102

dilap wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, I'm not so sure. First, Uber drivers are already not making much. Drivers I've talked to here in SF say they are near $15/hour (though they can more in the form of bonuses if they hit certain hours-driven targets). Second, the job of a passive driver will actually be both more boring and harder -- you have to pay attention while doing nothing, but be ready to take over in a second. It's like being a passenger, e…

Your example of San Francisco is an outlier - there's too much upward pressure on wages there to let driving compensation fall too low. Let's have the same conversation about Minneapolis, Dallas, St. Paul, Austin, Kansas City, etc. Austin is a great example of a city with a lot of unemployement and underemployment due to the massive student population. Can't you imagine a college student riding around listening to le…

Post by wehadfun » Thu, Aug 18, 2016, 7:00 PM UTC

stale2002 wrote: post #149

wehadfun wrote: post #141

What happens if someone is in one of these and it needs gas? What happens if these things get a flat tires? What if the police want to pull one of these things over? Can drivers exit this thing at will or are they trapped until some computer in California thinks it is safe? Uber does know that their drivers do lot more then drive

1) Uber keeps tracks of the fuel ahead of time, and goes to an Uber refuel station automatically before it gets anywhere near low fuel. 2) The computer detects that the flat tire happened, pulls off to the side, and autodials the Uber triple A repair crew. 3) This one is hard actually. Perhaps the cameras could detect the flashing lights and sound of a police car, and automatically pull over? Or maybe there is just a…

Post by rhino369 » Thu, Aug 18, 2016, 7:03 PM UTC

ethbro wrote: post #142

jayjay71 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody wants to jump straight to 4, because 3 is actually dangerous and likely to cause deaths as people are lulled into a false sense of safety. The question is how long will it take? Some people say 2 years, some people say 20.

I think the bigger question is how you get straight to 4. Ford has resources, but I feel like they're betting against history here w/ regards to ML successes. Practical, reliable ML stems from enormous data sets. And I can't see a way of obtaining the necessary data volume other than sitting in Level 3 for a product cycle...

Post by wehadfun » Thu, Aug 18, 2016, 7:10 PM UTC

nicwolff wrote: post #191

Doesn't this upend Uber's whole model of non-ownership of vehicles and rejection of liability? Unless the driver is just there to be liable for having "allowed" the AI to intentionally hit something or someone! Also, as a NYC driver, I wonder how aggressively a self-driving car could legally be programmed to defend its lane. I'm picturing Uberbots sitting still in traffic while streams of human drivers gleefully cut…

Post by mikeash » Thu, Aug 18, 2016, 7:18 PM UTC

nkoren wrote: post #112

losteverything wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"As a person within the industry" has there been any talk about the paths driverless will take? New roadways? Attendant-less roadways? Change in existing designation of highways? How to accomodate 10-20 people (vehicles won't look like they do now)? I envision future photos-videos of driver and driver less "vehicles" at a busy intersection just like horses and early cars.

These are the right questions to be asking! Yes, there has been some talk -- but not remotely enough. At present, the vast majority of work in the vehicle-automation space is being done by, well, vehicle people. The assumption is that driverless vehicles will slot into the existing infrastructure with minimal modification. There's a fair amount of consideration being given to vehicle-to-infrastructure communications…