AI Is About To Take The Ship's Helm Away From Humans

Post by yukonbound » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 10:26 AM UTC

samplatt wrote: post #28

jcranmer wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming you're talking about the kind of trains pulling 1,000 mile runs as opposed to metro trains. Train drivers do more than just drive a train. They also have to deal with dropping off and picking up cars from the consist. They also need to monitor track conditions that aren't necessarily easy to pick up from track circuits, such as deep snow ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yja2VmZOfdA shows you how some tr…

The mining operations in Western Australia have also invested heavily in autonomous EVERYTHING. The massive dump-trucks and drill rigs are going autonomous, with anywhere between 10% and 100% (depending on the site) of the heavy vehicles are now driverless.

Post by mcbits » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 11:49 AM UTC

Piskvorrr wrote: post #49

stubish wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia uses what are called road trains, which essentially is 3 full sized semi-trailer loads pulled by a massive single cab travelling 90km/h. A good place to find them are the highways between Adelaide and Perth or Adelaide and Darwin. At night, their stopping distance is greater than their headlights can reach; if they see something, it is too late to stop and the choice is swerving and likely tipping or plowin…

Tech would have needed to see through terrain (road is not always flat - even though sometimes the crests and dips are so rare there's a warning sign ahead: https://media.gettyimages.com/videos/outback-road-sign-of-cr... )...and be retrofitted into the existing cabs. So, no: the tool of choice is still brute force, literally.

Post by christinamltn » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 12:52 PM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #13

akira2501 wrote: post #5

Several issues with this idea: 1) On the open ocean, what is there to even avoid? In the harbor, you often don't have a choice; the harbor master is going to _require_ you to pick up a harbor pilot who is rated and certified for the harbor you'll be in and they must be in command of the ships steering and propulsion in order for your ship to even enter their waters. 2) Only 20% of the global merchant fleet is dedicat…

There are some ships, small sailing ships for example, that do not get picked up by radar. They often need to get radar reflectors fitted to be visible. You certainly wouldn't want to be on a sailing vessel while an automated cargo ship barrels down on you. Sailing ships get right of way to powered ships as well so detecting the difference between vessels is important and the automation would need to take that into a…

Post by isostatic » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 1:24 PM UTC

stubish wrote: post #45

isostatic wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At high speeds a driver can’t do anything if they see an obstruction. Breaking distances on trains tend to be measured in miles, not metres.

Australia uses what are called road trains, which essentially is 3 full sized semi-trailer loads pulled by a massive single cab travelling 90km/h. A good place to find them are the highways between Adelaide and Perth or Adelaide and Darwin. At night, their stopping distance is greater than their headlights can reach; if they see something, it is too late to stop and the choice is swerving and likely tipping or plowin…

Post by falcolas » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 2:02 PM UTC

yason wrote: post #48

I could see a potential with completely autonomous vessels that could sail for weeks/months on solar/wind power without any human presence. Crew would only board the ship when approaching a harbour, and steer her to the dock. Solar panels and wind turbines could generate electricity which would be stored in batteries and then used to drive electric motors propelling the ship. Slower than diesel but also cheaper and w…