Those corner cases can be solved by simulation. Off to the sims, to implement kangaroos, deer and people in wheelchairs chasing ducks with a broomstick - just to be thorough.
Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
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Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#42Lots of human drivers are confused by kangaroos and kangaroos are confused by cars especially at night. You see an awful lot dead kangaroos on the side of the road in rural Australia. As an aside, kangaroos in motion are one of the most efficient and elegant mammals. I love watching them bounding away at speed effortlessly dodging scrub and trees - more like flight than running.
Having had plenty of wallabies (smaller version of Kangaroos) jump out in front of me at dawn/dusk, I concur. The hopping movement makes it incredibly difficult to judge their speed and direction. They actually cover horizontal space at a far greater clip than they seem to, and also means they can make snap changes in their direction of travel VERY quickly, making any avoidance manoeuvre a bit of a wild guess.
They are extremely unpredictable in their change in direction and they will often get panicked by the sound of the car and jump in front rather than away from the car like most other animals.
Unpredictable motion is ideal for evading upright preditors with spears, but no so good for collision avoidance with fast moving metal objects.
Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#43Lots of human drivers are confused by kangaroos and kangaroos are confused by cars especially at night. You see an awful lot dead kangaroos on the side of the road in rural Australia. As an aside, kangaroos in motion are one of the most efficient and elegant mammals. I love watching them bounding away at speed effortlessly dodging scrub and trees - more like flight than running.
What's the general feeling about taking the meat after a collision? Where I grew up, people would butcher the animal if it's not terribly destroyed. Around here there's a wild hog problem, which are edible but not very tasty, so the local wildlife agency picks them up and they're used in soup kitchens to feed the homeless.
If you hit a kangaroo (I have only ever had a side on collision where the kangaroo jumped into the side of my car and bounced off) you need to get out and check if it has a live joey (baby kangaroo) in its pouch. You are not allowed to keep the joeys, but there are organisations that will take them in and raise them enforce release back into the wild.
Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#44Gotta watch out for them kangaroos: http://www.snopes.com/humor/nonsense/kangaroo.asp
Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> You need actual distances to objects, not just fuzzy error-prone inferences. Humans do pretty good with fuzzy notions of where the animal is. Exact distances aren't needed so much as reasonable estimates. If it is probably in the "need to brake zone" then the car brakes. Plus or minus a few meters isn't a big deal so long as you've got margins to work with. As animals are unpredictable, Volvo certainly has wide ma…
But apparently humans get confused by kangaroos too, based on the number of collisions.
It's not confusion as other Australians here have said they really do not behave like any other animal and appear out of no where at speed. A actual collision with one normally takes out the car and not just the kangaroo as well.
Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#46Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#47Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#48Those corner cases can be solved by simulation. Off to the sims, to implement kangaroos, deer and people in wheelchairs chasing ducks with a broomstick - just to be thorough.
Just make sure you disable the kangaroos' rocket launchers before giving your big demo... ;)
Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#49Lots of human drivers are confused by kangaroos and kangaroos are confused by cars especially at night. You see an awful lot dead kangaroos on the side of the road in rural Australia. As an aside, kangaroos in motion are one of the most efficient and elegant mammals. I love watching them bounding away at speed effortlessly dodging scrub and trees - more like flight than running.
What's the general feeling about taking the meat after a collision? Where I grew up, people would butcher the animal if it's not terribly destroyed. Around here there's a wild hog problem, which are edible but not very tasty, so the local wildlife agency picks them up and they're used in soup kitchens to feed the homeless.
City dwellers generally wouldn't do so, although I don't know of any laws against it. Some people who grew up on farms or in remote towns certainly do.
Re: Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos
#50Lots of human drivers are confused by kangaroos and kangaroos are confused by cars especially at night. You see an awful lot dead kangaroos on the side of the road in rural Australia. As an aside, kangaroos in motion are one of the most efficient and elegant mammals. I love watching them bounding away at speed effortlessly dodging scrub and trees - more like flight than running.
What's the general feeling about taking the meat after a collision? Where I grew up, people would butcher the animal if it's not terribly destroyed. Around here there's a wild hog problem, which are edible but not very tasty, so the local wildlife agency picks them up and they're used in soup kitchens to feed the homeless.
I met a guy who does it, but just takes the tails. He considered the roo fresh if the blood hadn't congealed by the time he found it.
This was in an environment where daytime temperatures are often 40C (104F) plus during the day.