Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda • Hacker News Board

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#81

Post by walesmd » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:17 PM UTC

cr0sh wrote: post #54

josephpmay wrote: post #8

Hotz is quoted as saying in the article, "there are only three real competitors: Waymo, Tesla and us." That's total bullshit. There are so many companies seriously working on autonomous vehicles, such as GM Cruise, Auroa Innovation, Drive.ai, Zoox, Nuro.ai, nuTonomy, Varden Labs, AImotive, Ford, and Nvidia Edit, because George is on here: George, I want to like you, because I think your tech is really good (the stree…

> That's total bullshit. Udacity has their own self-driving vehicle. They built it for their Self-Driving Vehicle Car Engineer Nanodegree program; I just started term 3 yesterday, and apparently they're going ahead with the plan for student to run code on it. https://medium.com/udacity/term-3-in-depth-on-udacitys-self-... Apparently, they have a test track, and will have a safety driver on-board. For that part of the…

It's a Lincoln MKZ. A number of partners helped us with the conversion, including AutonomouStuff and NVidia.

And yes - we're running student code on the car, around a test track, and we'll send you the results (I think a video feed as well). It's your final project in the Self-Driving Car Nanodegree program.

I can't wait to watch the first time a student's code drives it around the track.

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#82

Post by ktta » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:21 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #80

ktta wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, he seems to the the kind of person that knows about the bureaucratic nature of NHTSA and cut his losses.

If he knew about it then why would he have even started the project? It's obvious that regulators would be involved in a project like this. I don't see how he didn't anticipate this from the start.

As they say:

Hindsight is 20/20

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#83

Post by agumonkey » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:22 PM UTC

ethanwillis wrote: post #75

agumonkey wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a nodejs template system.

This is a depressing comment. I'm assuming the parent comment is talking about GNU, Linux, the variety of userspace software from Unix times... not node.js template systems.

GNU wasn't hackers in the meaning of 2010s hackers. It took smart individuals and years to come up with something tangibles. Same for Linux.

I cannot compare anything in the casual software world, no matter how complex it is, to driving a car in streets. It's bridging physics and AI. Maybe hotz has a point and other SDV module vendors are as fake but that's irrelevant.

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#84

Post by aresant » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:23 PM UTC

ethanwillis wrote: post #76

roymurdock wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real winner in the race to mandate OBD-II monitoring is the auto insurance industry. Sure, you could install Hotz's dongle, give Hotz your data, earn "comma points", feel like you are helping to train self driving cars, and trade these comma points for - what exactly? a comma plushie? - while Hotz turns around and sells your data to insurance companies. Or you could get a free OBD dongle directly from your curren…

Not a comma plushie. He mentioned ICO, so cryptocurrency. Which with something of value like this behind it the comma "points" (tokens?) could be worth quite a lot if you're an early adopter.

EXACTLY. Sorry if I was unclear.

ICO as a way to convert "Internet Points" into something of material value and reward users directly for contributions is incredibly fascinating to me.

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#85

Post by Animats » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:28 PM UTC

I saw a new player in self-driving yesterday - a blue Peterbilt truck equipped with many cameras and some of the puck-sized Velodyne laser scanners. Nevada license AU 0030. They were driving on US 101 southbound from Menlo Park to Mountain View, where they exited the freeway and got back on, northbound. They were bobtailing; no trailer.

In that location, I'd first though it was one of Google's vehicles But why the Nevada plate? Turns out this is Embark.[1] They even show their AU 0030 license plate in the video.

Embark has been testing in Nevada, where the regulations are looser and there's less traffic. Their demo video is on a a deserted, straight two-lane road, closed for the occasion. Good place to debug.

Embark isn't on the list of CA DMV autonomous vehicle test companies. Also, CA won't allow autonomous vehicle testing of vehicles over 10,000 pounds, figuring that if something goes wrong, it's better to have car accidents than heavy truck accidents.

When Otto did that "autonomous delivery" of Budweiser with a semi, their vehicle was surrounded by chase cars. It was a much more controlled environment than the video indicates. There's too much "fake it until you make it" in this business. Waymo and Volvo are building systems that can handle unexpected trouble. Some of the others, not so much.

[1] http://embarktrucks.com/

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#86

Post by devy » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

josephpmay wrote: post #8

Hotz is quoted as saying in the article, "there are only three real competitors: Waymo, Tesla and us." That's total bullshit. There are so many companies seriously working on autonomous vehicles, such as GM Cruise, Auroa Innovation, Drive.ai, Zoox, Nuro.ai, nuTonomy, Varden Labs, AImotive, Ford, and Nvidia Edit, because George is on here: George, I want to like you, because I think your tech is really good (the stree…

I doubt Geohotz didn't do his homework before he made this conclusion. He went to CMU, Google and Facebook and had worked with the smartest professors/scientists/engineers in the field of AI before he founded Comma.ai. He's pretty much single-handed built a level 3 drive assist prototype within a year where other companies spent billions and many years R&D but not even came close to what he was originally intended to release.[1]

So when George said, "there are only three real competitors: Waymo, Tesla and us." What he really says is that Comma.ai's technology is on par with Waymo and Tesla's. The rest of the companies are either subpar or have no existing product to demo, likely both.

He also famously said "shippability" is the biggest differentiator between Comma One and the rest but decided not to fight the uphill legal battle being that he's taking the Android approach to grab the market share.

So, I kinda buy it.

[1]: http://www.thedrive.com/tech/5772/the-cancelled-comma-one-wo...

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#87

Post by mejari » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:51 PM UTC

tinco wrote: post #52

frebord wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a TWIST episode with this guy on it, and he comes of as a massively arrogant prick. The dude who created the first iPhone jailbreak in his teens and got famous at it.

He did a lot more than just jailbreak an old iPhone. The dude's good, who cares if he's arrogant? There's hundreds of big corporations manipulating media for financial gains. Are you gonna hate this guy just because he has a face and a personal reputation? Or are you going to watch with bemused interest as he successfully scales the obstacles and actually puts some nice products out there.

>who cares if he's arrogant? There's hundreds of big corporations manipulating media for financial gains.

That's a hell of a non-sequitor

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#88

Post by morogop » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 6:01 PM UTC

That's nonsense. if his claims were true, he could've sold the lot for nine or ten figures to somebody who was willing to deal with NHTSA.

It is exceedingly foolish to believe George Hotz's extremely obvious lies. George Hotz is a smart guy who made some big mistakes, and isn't man enough to admit that he was lying.

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#89

Post by morogop » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 6:05 PM UTC

If you mean what you say: buy this thing, install it on your car, and use it daily.

I dare you.

Oh right, you'd never do that, because some tiny part of you knows that George Hotz was lying his ass off about his tech, and that you'd have to be a crazy person to trust such a flagrant liar with your life.

Re: Comma.ai launches an $88 universal car interface called Panda

#90

Post by goeric » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 6:07 PM UTC

He also said he will "ship" his product and badmouthed his competitors for not shipping. Then he cancelled his product after one cease and desist. George is a brilliant mind, but I hope he figures out how to become a better entrepreneur. He has so much potential.