Self-driving Cars

[norseman]

Since retirement 20 years ago I actually enjoy driving either of my two classic cars, as journeys are usually at my choice rather than being obligatory (I drove for a living for 3 decades) & I still take pride in being a safe driver, as my record will attest.

The idea of a driver-less car is totally alien to me & I hope the damn things are not forced upon us until I'm too ga-ga to care who/what is in control of the vehicle I am travelling in.

 

[Odds]

Since retirement 20 years ago I actually enjoy driving either of my two classic cars, as journeys are usually at my choice rather than being obligatory (I drove for a living for 3 decades) & I still take pride in being a safe driver, as my record will attest.

The idea of a driver-less car is totally alien to me & I hope the damn things are not forced upon us until I'm too ga-ga to care who/what is in control of the vehicle I am travelling in.

A news report yesterday showed a car with a 'safety driver' at the wheel, just in case...but when the trial ends only the passenger will be in there, trusting in the new tech. A union rep. for taxi drivers is v. unhappy with the development, saying a million jobs are at stake. A good point. What'll happen to all those Black cab drivers in London who know f. all but The Knowledge of how to get around the maze of streets? How many cab drivers jobs are at risk nationwide?

Or is this a sign of things to come when all vehicles will be automatic?

 

[Doug99]

In a situation where traffic is managed by police/highway patrols, how does a driverless car respond to hand signals directing traffic to follow what is normally 'the wrong way' ie temporary routes using the oncoming lanes on motorways etc.

How does a driverless car react to a HGV driver requesting it to back up at a tight junction to give him more room to make the corner?

I can think of many more scenarios where the car can find itself in a tight/busy situation where a human will respond but the onboard computer will probably say ........NO!

 

[blup]

Self driving cars have a long way to go before they’re safe if the experience of a modern camera based cruise control is anything to go by. Useful in free flowing 20 or 30 limits, but can recognise parked cars, pinch points etc as traffic. OK on motorways if you want to tuck in behind a caravan. Doesn’t recognise traffic lights or roundabouts etc. In stop start traffic it disconnects if you're at standstill for more than a few seconds which seems to me to defeat the point. Add in the challenges of self steering we must be a long way off self driving cars. Were any of the 57 million miles tested in real life worst case scenarios?

 

[evdamadiynot]

The thread started with comment around stopping distances
The report gushed about how much quicker an autonomous vehicle can be brought to stop from speed.
Ive bought diesel today and looking at the trip computer for the mpg I noticed that Ive done 600 miles ish at an average speed of 24mph.
Reaction speed is therefore not a reason Id buy a driverless car.
Most of my useage is on country lanes.
At busy times multiple vehicles are travelling in opposite dire with no room to pass by.One side will have to reverse,sometimes a considerable distance to find a wider section.
Who decides?
Tempers and middle fingers are sometimes raised but we muddle through.
There are no rules of engagement so how will the AI decide?

Use it to do something useful like reading Mri scans for which there are insufficient trained people available.
Until then it,and its fanboys can take a hike

 

[robinbanks]

What'll happen to all those Black cab drivers in London who know f. all but The Knowledge of how to get around the maze of streets?

They'll be kidnapped and plugged into a computer, have their knowledge extracted to form the biggest AI model of entitled, Highway Code ignoring driving behaviour anywhere, and then released to become deliveroo couriers

Until then it,and its fanboys can take a hike

The march of progress will continue unabated alas, but I do think that there are appropriate places to prioritise it. Motorway travel first I think

 

[Odds]

M.way travel would seem a logical place to broaden the range of a driverless car but i think further development will be in order to ensure the safety of passengers and other road users. Who can foresee what may come of this innovation in travel? You could even hire an AI-bot to do the shopping using a driverless car while you spend the time relaxing, going to the pub, feeding the ducks, or anything more interesting than wandering around Lidl looking for lunch. Just as the caveman learned to cook meat, we're stepping out of a dark age into a more enlightened world.

 

[evdamadiynot]

Like a moth to a flame

 

[Brigadier]

Ive bought diesel today and looking at the trip computer for the mpg I noticed that Ive done 600 miles ish at an average speed of 24mph.
Reaction speed is therefore not a reason Id buy a driverless car.

Just hope that, should you have a crash, you're doing average speed then

 

[robinbanks]

You could even hire an AI-bot to do the shopping using a driverless car

Asda bring our food to us every week, and I pay a quid a week to have someone wander a shop floor for half an hour and drive it 7 miles through the worst traffic.

If I did it myself it would cost an order of magnitude more than that in time and diesel and if they every bring anything I don't like they take it away and refund it, and if they bring something I can't use (damaged/short date) they give it me free so I can decide to salvage/change plans or bin.

Can't understand why people still go to the shops to be honest!

 

[flameport]

How many cab drivers jobs are at risk nationwide?

100% of them. Globally.

Self driving cars have a long way to go before they’re safe if the experience of a modern camera based cruise control is anything to go by.

Cruise control might as well be from the stone age. It's neither modern or relevant to self driving vehicles.



Some actual self driving examples - both of these have the video sped up, as watching driving in real time is exceptionally tedious.

California - Griffith Observatory to Downtown LA

Thousands of more examples from LA here: https://www.youtube.com/@WholeMars including the raw video at normal speeds.

Shenzen, China:

with more here https://www.youtube.com/@yourchinaguy/videos

 

[blup]

Cruise control might as well be from the stone age. It's neither modern or relevant to self driving vehicles.

Cruise control as part of a lane departure control and variable speed.

Some actual self driving examples - both of these have the video sped up, as watching driving in real time is exceptionally tedious.

California - Griffith Observatory to Downtown LA

Thousands of more examples from LA here: https://www.youtube.com/@WholeMars including the raw video at normal speeds.

Shenzen, China:

with more here https://www.youtube.com/@yourchinaguy/videos

Not convinced these are road safe, even though at or near road readiness, yet.

 

[flameport]

Not convinced these are road safe,

They are not yet - which is why it's FSD Supervised, as in someone still needs to be in the car.
Those YT accounts have several examples of where the car didn't make the correct choice or some other intervention was required, but the point is that the instances of that are already tiny, and are getting less every day.
The graphics on the centre console screen are not just for decoration - that is the model of the local environment that the car is creating in real time. What you see on that screen is what the car sees.

Waymo has a couple of thousand highly customised vehicles in specific areas of a few US cities.
Tesla has millions of vehicles in all kinds of locations globally.

 

[norseman]

Not sure if this question has been asked but, in this age of rampant litigation, who is held responsible if it all goes tits-up?

1) the individual in charge of the vehicle
2) the vehicle manufacturer
3) the component(s) supplier
4) any of the above who has the least competent legal team

 

[IT Minion]

They are not yet - which is why it's FSD Supervised, as in someone still needs to be in the car.
Those YT accounts have several examples of where the car didn't make the correct choice or some other intervention was required, but the point is that the instances of that are already tiny, and are getting less every day.
The graphics on the centre console screen are not just for decoration - that is the model of the local environment that the car is creating in real time. What you see on that screen is what the car sees.

Waymo has a couple of thousand highly customised vehicles in specific areas of a few US cities.
Tesla has millions of vehicles in all kinds of locations globally.

My concern is that while things are improving it may be an example of where getting that last bit of performance is unreasonably hard.

Geofencing known, compatible, routes and/or teleoperation makes a lot of sense. I'd be very interested in a car that could self drive just on motorways, even if to can't handle country roads or some of the narrow streets near me.