White one looks better. Overall design not too bad, especially if they want them to be immediately recognizable.
Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
41–50 of 322 posts
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#42It seems like a mistake to remove manual controls entirely, not necessarily because of safety concerns, but because there are a fair number of times when you need the car to go somewhere without having a route. I'm thinking of things like: Moving your car ten feet so somebody else can get out of the driveway; handling double parking during alternate side parking hours; moving the car because you were waiting to pick…
Note that all those examples are very low speed uses (< 5 mph). It would be completely acceptable to control the car with a handful of dashboard buttons no larger than the buttons to roll the windows up and down. (As mentioned by other, pedals and a steering wheel would be overkill for these rare situations.) And there's really no need for Google to have mentioned it in this blog post, nor would you have seen it in their rendering, so the post is completely consistent with your concerns being addressed.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#43It seems like they would eventually have a four-seater version but the bench seats could face each other.
What a simple thing but so different. Maybe like suicide-doors used to be common in the US but they're such a novelty now.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#44It seems like a mistake to remove manual controls entirely, not necessarily because of safety concerns, but because there are a fair number of times when you need the car to go somewhere without having a route. I'm thinking of things like: Moving your car ten feet so somebody else can get out of the driveway; handling double parking during alternate side parking hours; moving the car because you were waiting to pick…
I think the eventual goal will be that most cars will be self-driving and that will negate most of those problems. I imagine that the vision of the future is a giant car-sharing program made up of self-driving cars all coordinated by Google. Think about it - you fire up an app to request a car, one appears at your door within a couple of minutes, takes you to work, then disappears. After work, a different car picks y…
AAAS - Automobiles as a Service.
That could actually be pretty cool. Basically, a ZipCar + Uber that doesn't suck. That would be the dream.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
For manual controls your could just plug in something like a PlayStation controller into a USB port or even a Phone app via Wifi/Bluetooth to control the car. No need to have permanent wheels, levers and pedals cluttering the "passenger" compartment.
It's always nice to have an actual mechanical linkage to the steering and motion, if the electronics had issues it could just as well affect the BT link from the phone or controller. I'm not familiar enough with all makes and models out today and perhaps there are plenty of examples where wheels are already just "controllers".
Essentially every new consumer grade car made today comes with power steering and electronically controlled or assisted "mechanical linkage". To say nothing of the recent high profile cases of large auto makers having faulty engine control software or mechanically unsound ignition systems.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#46Given that they're capped at 25 mph, these are legally "low-speed vehicles", not cars, which means they're way less regulated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle
I think, too, that there's a logical disconnect between "we focused on learning, not luxury", and "we want to hear about what you want in a vehicle where you sit back and enjoy the ride" (probably, to most, -not- a dearth of comforts).
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#47I can't believe I didn't realize this earlier: When you have nothing in front of you, there's no need for an airbag!
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#48I wonder whether they will first become available as a product that individual people can buy, or if Google will open some sort of service where you can sign up for a monthly "car plan" for X miles. Or maybe partner with a taxi company/Uber, where you pay per ride but the cars are driverless. I imagine all 3 models will be tried at some point, and it'll be interesting to watch their development and which one eventual…
I really think that self-driving buses will be common long before most cars are.
* They cover the same routes day after day
* They are already centrally owned by large companies or governments
* Driver cost is a big reason you can't have 2 small buses running twice as often
as a single big bus. Or why buses can't run longer hours.
* You still have limited space on roads and you need to use PT to get the
person density up. This will always be hard with just one person in
each vehicleRe: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#49I feel as though they really havent embraced the driverless concept with their prototype.
Why have seats that are fixed and facing forward? What about a couch? Why is there a dash?
The people in the video are essentially watching the car drive itself, when they could be doing anything else.
There are probably a multitude of reasons why the things above are the way they are. However, the prototype seems like just another car to me.
Also, off-topic, but can we have a google/product launch video without the corny piano soundtrack.
Re: Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle
#50 It's so cute! Look at it! It's even got a happy face! It's totally not a life-threatening robot of doom!
And it promotes family talking time! Just like fast food restaurants in recent episodes of Mad Men!
Sorry. It really is a slick ad for a neat product, I just can't resist noticing how they position it.