91–100 of 130 posts
Everything Google does feeds back, somehow, to data mining. How does self-driving cars fit in to Google's plans? ETA: Downvoted for asking a serious question? WTH?
Constantly updated Street view. Also, they could map all the roads of the world this way.
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There is a second part on it. How will cars behave when they are driving along a crowded street in a place where people crosses anywhere and changing directions and intentions very fast. I don't think there will be dangers to pedestrian. But it's going to be a tought problem avoiding false emergency breaking. Once more you have to rely on visual contact to know what are the real intentions of people. Crossing, waitin…
My guess is that originally self driving cars will be mainly used on highways and take you to the metro hubs. Once you reach a very populated metro area, you will use the local public transportation.
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Here's a possibility. I'm not saying they will do this. It's just an illustration of what someone controlling the software in a fleet of self-driving cars could do. You summon a self-driving taxi to take you to Bob's Bistro--known throughout the city for its steaks, and your call is serviced by a car using Google self-driving software. Google knows who you are and knows where you are going. The car's route planner de…
This is a pretty paranoid and far-fetched scenario. Generally, I'd expect that an automated taxi would operate under rules similar to current taxis - the obligation would be to take the customer to the destination via the most direct route specified, unless otherwise directed. Taking someone on another route might constitute kidnapping - you're essentially transporting them against their will to somewhere they did no…
Further, wrt the optimal/most direct route thing:
* the algorithm could be tweaked to "adpresence" en-route fairly easily
* "most direct route" is an ambiguous term. There could be two routes that involve almost same distance in miles, but the slightly longer one is likely to take less time. Which constitutes most direct? It turns into an optimization problem, possibly with no obviously optimal point (particularly when you account for fuzziness needed to deal with unexpected traffic patterns, accidents, etc).
* Finally, the ad-laden route could be a free ride, whereas the "direct" route could be paid. This may or may not get around regulations, but as long as the time delta was not significantly bad, I would choose the ad route.
Google and NASCAR produced a joke video about self-driving race cars:
* Video: http://www.nascar.com/video/none/none/120331/cup-mar-google/
* More info: http://www.google.com/racing/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a second part on it. How will cars behave when they are driving along a crowded street in a place where people crosses anywhere and changing directions and intentions very fast. I don't think there will be dangers to pedestrian. But it's going to be a tought problem avoiding false emergency breaking. Once more you have to rely on visual contact to know what are the real intentions of people. Crossing, waitin…
My guess is that originally self driving cars will be mainly used on highways and take you to the metro hubs. Once you reach a very populated metro area, you will use the local public transportation.
The technology is impressive, but humans drive okay without LIDAR, radar, or GPS. Maybe some day self-driving cars can drive using only two small visible-light sensors located above and behind the steering wheel. It might just be an AI challenge to operate that way, and commercial systems will always employ advanced sensors for better safety. But I don't think true parity has been reached until they can drive like we…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a pretty paranoid and far-fetched scenario. Generally, I'd expect that an automated taxi would operate under rules similar to current taxis - the obligation would be to take the customer to the destination via the most direct route specified, unless otherwise directed. Taking someone on another route might constitute kidnapping - you're essentially transporting them against their will to somewhere they did no…
I didn't read the parent as paranoid at all. I thought it was pretty cool. Further, wrt the optimal/most direct route thing: * the algorithm could be tweaked to "adpresence" en-route fairly easily * "most direct route" is an ambiguous term. There could be two routes that involve almost same distance in miles, but the slightly longer one is likely to take less time. Which constitutes most direct? It turns into an opti…
I'd like to see some self-driving cars in a high-speed chase or race. Google and NASCAR produced a joke video about self-driving race cars: * Video: http://www.nascar.com/video/none/none/120331/cup-mar-google/ * More info: http://www.google.com/racing/
The technology is impressive, but humans drive okay without LIDAR, radar, or GPS. Maybe some day self-driving cars can drive using only two small visible-light sensors located above and behind the steering wheel. It might just be an AI challenge to operate that way, and commercial systems will always employ advanced sensors for better safety. But I don't think true parity has been reached until they can drive like we…
I would love to not drive. I have a 45-minute daily commute each way, and paying attention for 45 minutes of driving is not something I look forward to. I'd rather surf the web, stare out of the windows, or just about anything else. Some people love driving; good for them. But for me, driving is just the thing you have to do to get to point B, where the interesting thing is.
It uses all-electric vehicles and they even have a convoy mode where each car follows the lead vehicle closely to maximize the number of passengers and minimize wind resistance.
The guidance system is pretty primitive - it's all done in hardware with steel wheels on steel rails - but it makes it relatively difficult for it to go off-the-rails.
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It makes sense for the self-driving car to yield to pedestrians all the time. So if you see that there is no driver, you assume it will stop until you are out of its way. There will be no more awkward social guessing games!
It will be interesting to see how people exploit the A.I. There might be little tricks you could do to make an autonomous car yield. Or if you see one about to park, maybe you could get really close to it, and it would try to find another spot instead of fighting for the spot. Or pedestrians might carelessly walk in front of it, knowing it will stop for them. Edit: It will also be interesting to see how the technolog…
I guess someone will hack the software in his car to send a "road blocked" signal, so that he can drag race a friend on fifth avenue at rush hour. I also expect that it will become illegal to hack one's own car soon after that.