[Closed] Google self-driving cars

They'll make bigger cars.

I can't help thinking of total recall (the original)

I think that this is an interesting read around this kind of thing, the first thought experiment is about whether your autonomous car should kill you to save 2 other people:

[url= http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/zero-moment/mathematics-murder-should-robot-sacrifice-your-life-save-two ]http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/zero-moment/mathematics-murder-should-robot-sacrifice-your-life-save-two[/url]

It would be interesting to see how the collision avoidance copes with filtering motorbikes, cyclists and pedestrians messing about. No more zebra crossings ? 😀

I'm thinking it'll be more like Minority Report rather than exploding Jonny Cabs. I love it, I think it's excellent, the days when I can get in a car, push a button then sit back and watch the news on the way to work is coming. No speeding, no morons driving on the road, there'll be no need for traffic lights as the computers will seemlessly integrate the traffic so all journeys will be faster.

Trust your life to it. No thanks, and given the irritating "Aw Shucks" messages you get when Chrome crashes, it'd probably maim you then then give you a cutesy message saying "My Bad, your leg appears to be missing".

I'm was up at 4 this morning and feeling grumpy, I hanker after the blue screen of death with thousands of indecipherable characters.

Would they brake for badgers ?

Who would the traffic droid have to shout at

I see chaos. You get a traffic jam and everything grinds to a halt, "computer says no" and no controls to take over. Non automatic traffic will have a field day (motorbikes, cycles, cars) by just squeezing into gaps (eg filtering as above) at which point the automatic cars will give way / avoid collision.

On an interesting side note a friend was at a demo Volvo where doing of their automatic braking system for pedestrian avoidance, the car ran over the model pedestrian and smashed in to a wall 🙁

I think it is great, and really the only way the main stream use of personal transport will become future proof.

There will always be problems during the transition though. That's not a reason not to do it, we just need to be mindful of them and work out how best to handle them.

In the traffic example above, no doubt it'll happen to some extent but traffic jams like that aren't the norm for driving, are they? Unless maybe you're in London 🙂

[s]Who[/s] What would the traffic droid have to shout at?

[b]"Unexpected Item in the Parking Area"[/b]

Wont it be like most tech/computer things in our life.

Stopping all the time for an update, needing to be turned on/off to get it to work properly, filling your journey with junk while your sat there powerless to avoid the marketing. Will it log your every journey, take you to the current sponsors coffee shop.

Personally I cant deal with loosing control, so Id not willingly use one. If I did Id spend my time seeing how it copes with difficult situations just to prove its no good.

love it, I think it's excellent, the days when I can get in a car, push a button then sit back and watch the news on the way to work is coming. No speeding, no morons driving on the road, there'll be no need for traffic lights as the computers will seemlessly integrate the traffic so all journeys will be faster.

+1 The sooner most drivers/idiots are removed from behind the wheel the better.

[i]I think it is great, and really the only way the main stream use of personal transport will become future proof.[/i]

It's coming* Future is in a Wally World where fat people suck on protean shakes and watch life pass them by.

*coming to California only

Wont it be like most tech/computer things in our life.

Stopping all the time for an update, needing to be turned on/off to get it to work properly

Hah. You have no idea how well engineered some stuff is, because you never see it go wrong.

And you may complain about your computer, but you also have no concept of the scale of human achievement contained within. The fact that it works 99% of the time is truly incredible.

Staggering feats of human ingenuity from minerals in the ground to cheap laptops and STW, and all you can do is ****ing moan.

Of course they'll be problems to start with and it will take time to get working properly but even now I'd reckon on it being more reliable and safer than the first motor cars. Maybe we can employ people with red flags to walk in front of them until we are happy they are safe.

[i]Staggering feats of human ingenuity from minerals in the ground to cheap laptops and STW, and all you can do is **** moan.[/i]

Please now report to your nearest NHS facility so that you may enjoy a knicker un-twisting procedure.

The big problem with all autonomous vehicles is that they are designed to stop when someone steps out in front of it.
Yes you say, that's the point.
When all the children/young adults learn to recognise them what do you think they are going to do?
It will take you hours to get even a mile down the road because of all the fun the kids are going to have watching the car stop/start 🙂

Love this upvoted comment on the bbc article, do people just get irritated and run childeren over when they play chicken with cars then?

I'm somewhat reminded of the NASA space pen myth and peoples' desire to sneer and try to belittle clever design

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

As for molgrips, his knickers are permanently twisted. He was born with it so you shouldn't really point it out 😉

I think the self driving car might assist those who may otherwise be unable to [i]enjoy[/i] personal transport in the form of a car. However, if you think I'm going to climb into a tin box which is supposedly capable of piloting me along a motorway at 70mph or more, without any input from me. Think again !

People are already voting for self-driving cars - just look at existing behaviour:
1. Overtaking without looking
2. Texting/calling when driving
3. Eating breakfast
4. Reading newspaper
5. makeup/shaving

So the minute something comes along which allows us to do these things legitimately, affordably and which other people are doing and we'll be away...

Every new technology which is truely groundbreaking has its Luddites but they get over themselves eventually.

it's not like humans are some kind of paragon when it comes to driving cars is it?

You must love flying!

@ solo. what like a train or an aeroplane?

I'd go for self driving as an option, but I think I'd like manual controls too.

[i]@ solo. what like a train or an aeroplane?[/i]

What ? like they have people stationed at the front, who look out of the big window. Despite the fact that trains run on rails and that planes are capable of flying themselves and have been for some time...

Oh, and did you know that I've spent 20 yrs in car design, so please spare me the geek fest.
😉

Hands up all those who have doubts that the computer industry can make something which doesn't crash.

[i]Hands up[/i]

[img] [/img]

When was the last time you picked up a phone and didn't hear a dial tone? The computer industry made that phone exchange.

When was the last time the computer in your car 'crashed' (as opposed to had a mechanical failure)?

Put it another way - when was the last time you heard of a human crashing a car?

[gets ready for work, walks to car and selects 'to the office' on google maps on phone]

click, click, why isn't my car door opening

"I'm sorry but the traffic is so heavy your journey will be quicker walking to the bus stop at 3mph where you will wait 9 minutes for the 135 numbered bus to take you to within 0.3km of your office. Thank you"

I wanna drive !

"journey request illogical"

[i]When was the last time the computer in your car 'crashed' (as opposed to had a mechanical failure)?[/i]

That's not the only issue though, is it. Anticipation. Computers will not "[i]read the road[/i]" as well as a trained and experienced Human will, etc, etc.

Computers will not "read the road" as well as a trained and experienced Human will, etc, etc.

No? On what inside knowledge is that based?

[i]Put it another way - when was the last time you heard of a human crashing a car?[/i]

Or a bike, for that matter. Indeed, we're just a bunch of accident prone monkeys.

BRING ME MY SUIT OF COTTON WOOL !

Can we just have trams for urban transport, instead ?

[i]No? On what inside knowledge is that based?[/i]

Given your [i]form[/i] on driving related threads [cough] [i]over taking[/i] [/cough]. Might you reconsider your input here ?
😉

. I think it is great, and really the only way the main stream use of personal transport will become future proof.

Saddest post on a bike forum ever

It's coming* Future is in a Wally World where fat people suck on protean shakes and watch life pass them by.

Computers will not "read the road" as well as a trained and experienced Human will

lol next these "computers" will be playing chess! 🙄

"journey request illogical"

Would be great if the car refuse to make short trips - walk you lazy g!t.

Should be no manual option as those that think they're better than the machine will be wrong. One day these things should be able communitcate with each other and even link together into a train to dramatically improve traffic flow - like birds flocking maybe?

[i]lol next these "computers" will be playing chess![/i]

When missing the point is made an olympic discipline. You'll be our best chance for gold.

I put an address into sat nav yesterday and it directed me 5 roads away. So if this thing hasn't got a steering wheel, how the hell are we gonna get to were we want to go!
I presume it runs off a inputted destination.

When missing the point is made an olympic discipline. You'll be our best chance for gold.

We're giving you a chance to make your point better 🙂

[i]I presume it runs off a inputted destination.[/i]

Yes, the name of the place is:
[i]Pay-google-loads-of-money-to-drive-your-car-for-you[/i] town.

You do understand this isn't google getting all philanthropic with us, now ?

I put an address into sat nav yesterday and it directed me 5 roads away. So if this thing hasn't got a steering wheel, how the hell are we gonna get to were we want to go!