Heaven forbid

[Vesper Martini]

Here's progression though Singapore driverless Taxis
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/...er-and-the-us/

After being in Singapore recently, one of the cheapest things we found in comparison to Australia was actually the Taxis, so is this for cost saving?

[chinamonty]

Uber will make it happen but I hope they are guzzumped by the auto manufacturers. To stay in business it would make sense that they make the vehicles available and you are hiring them from the manufacturer rather than having an intermediary. You won't need to own a car for day to day transit but you will still need specialist vehicles for towing etc (if AI cars can back a boat trailer down a ramp then I am all for them)

[buggo]

And progression on home soil too. Autonomous buses being trialed in Perth CBD.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-0...wa-rac/7152650

[JC]

Originally Posted by bmwe46

Like any tech now days it will be evolution, and not revolution. ie it will be a slow transition. In Australia there are laws preventing auto-drive cars in that the driver must be in control of the car at all times.

It will eventually change though..

A computer will not throw the brakes on when it needs to change lanes (like half the idiots out there).. it will also merge well.

What it wont be able to do so well is look out for a block of wood on the road, or a motorbike flying up between the lanes. It may also take some programming to decide risk levels at an intersection based on the traffic load etc.

Historically, people have always overestimated rate of change of technology. HG Wells did fairly well but most people think it is going to change faster than it ever does.

Tesla already does this. I have been in one when on auto, and it wouldn't change lanes because the gap to the car in front and the one behind was too small - it slowed slightly and pulled in behind.

On adaptive cruise, it even read a roadworks speed sign and slowed from 90 to 60 (the new temp speed limit for the road works). Remarkable technology!

[PALE ALE]

Look at what the military is up to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGNopwFcz3A

Makes the autonomous car look like nothing

[superyob]

Burn it all! Name one single advancement that has not brought untold misery to human kind...

[Ensis]

Personally i dont think id get one ever. As much as human error is apart of us, id still want to be in control.
Though i think it will be good over all.
My questions are, how are they going to keep hackers out? I mean people are already hacking into jeeps. A hacked autonomous car on say the m4 could cause all sorts of chaos
And well we all know how tempremental computers can be, so what if your system crashes while driving?
Also prices for fixing software will be through the roof id assume

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Ensis

Personally i dont think id get one ever. As much as human error is apart of us, id still want to be in control.
Though i think it will be good over all.
My questions are, how are they going to keep hackers out? I mean people are already hacking into jeeps. A hacked autonomous car on say the m4 could cause all sorts of chaos
And well we all know how tempremental computers can be, so what if your system crashes while driving?
Also prices for fixing software will be through the roof id assume

The biggest issue of implementing autonomous vehicles (as i see), will be the overlap period between humans driving cars and going fully autonomous. An autonomous car will be able to get signals from many other sources to calculate its route, ie where the other cars around it are planning on going. It wont have this when a human is driving. It could sense a 1/2 second later what the human has done, but not what it is about to do. And travelling at 100 kmh, 1/2 a second can mean ovee 25 metres. Sadly, to progress the system to perfection, there will be a time that humans wont be able to control cars on public roads.

[mik]

Originally Posted by BAXRSIX

I'd like to know how autonomous cars can handle some of the following;

1. An unmarked police car with flashing lights behind it wanting it to pull over?

2. How does the car know what the speed limit is on freeways that have variable overhead speed limits?

3. How does the car know where to park... Which are no standing zones, 15 minute limit or one hour parking spots?

4. How does it navigate new roads not yet on the latest GPS maps?

5. When it's running low on fuel (or needs a charge), does it automatically detour to a petrol or charging station to be able to complete the trip, and how does it know the station is open?

6. How does it know how to detour, change lanes or merge if a roadworks worker holds up a sign and waves his hands to detour ?

7. How does it know there's an oil spill up ahead and to take it easy around the corner?

8. Flood waters, potholes, debris on the road to avoid????

9. How does it know it has to stop at a mobile drug / alcohol testing station directed by police?

10. How would its many sensors and cameras work in heavy fog?

And so many unforeseen circumstances that only a human can detect?

Too your question about fog , check out this video of thermal imaging ..........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct5flf0QgOI

All good questions .
i think they can make autonomous cars 99.9 % fool proof given enough computing power and sensors and time , but it all comes back to the mighty dollar .
humans dont have a good track record of spending unlimited funds on safety if it interferes with profit , some humans also have a tendency to overstate the capabilities of their auto drive cars .
i could be wrong ( but it is rare ) humor ...... imo they may need to do stuff to the road system to make it more suitable for autonomous cars(and humans too ! ) ,
but im thinking signs that can be easier to see for car sensors , maybe more signs , proper line marking as i mentioned in another post communicative sensors in the road and cars , and car to car .
You only have to go for a short drive around our little island continent and you see pretty quickly road marking and signs are not all they could be in many areas , good old melbourne for example some highways you might miss a speed sign due to looking at road traffic and not see another bloody sign for 2 k`s .......... Again your taxes at work !
For an example a main road near me had a bit tar work done on it a couple of hundred metres of fairly dangerous cambered 80 kph sweeper road in poor weather conditions ,
it took the local shire about six months before we saw any lines put back on the road ( your taxes at work ) .
Humans adapt to road conditions in various ways , computers will have to have the sensors and computing power in place to do better , because driving on the road is unpredictable ..... much like humans ..

[FPV6]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Maybe one day in the near future they will have Autonomous people and animals implanted with computers so they are no longer free to think or feel or question for themselves, much to the convenience of the powers that be..

Hahahahaha well we've seen what free thinking gets us over political correctness

[FPV6]

autonomous cars are coming if its here by the next 30 years ill be 72 not really giving a toss

[lra]

http://www.carsales.com.au/editorial...-future-103520

“The cars of the future will drive themselves by receiving and interpreting as much as one gigabyte of data every second, says author and self-styled 'big data strategist', Mark van Rijmenam.
One gigabyte per second, imagine the amount of data that will create every year: On average, Americans drive 600 hours per year in their car. That equals 2,160,000 seconds or approximately two petabytes of data per car per year. With the amount of cars worldwide to surpass one billion, it is almost unimaginable how much data will be created when Google’s self-driving car will become common on the streets."

I don’t understand any of the above, but I hope that there are none of those cars on the road during the next census night.
And why do we need autonomous self driving cars anyway?
One of our recent previous Prime Ministers said that by 2025 we would all be working from home.
If you believe the advertising we can get pizzas delivered by a robot, so no need to go out for food.

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by mik

Too your question about fog , check out this video of thermal imaging ..........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct5flf0QgOI

Already implemented in some cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLnHcJAlEDM

Let's not forget self driving cars are already being tested driving on the road with human drivers, and virtually all accidents so far have been caused by human drivers.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

Already implemented in some cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLnHcJAlEDM

Let's not forget self driving cars are already being tested driving on the road with human drivers, and virtually all accidents so far have been caused by human drivers.

I want to know what sort of roads all these tested driverless cars have been on, how they handled varying surfaces in varying weather conditions and what sort of unexpected hazards they have negotiated. Ie fallen tree, broken down cars etc.
Driverless cars driving around in perfect traffic conditions of a few freeways and city streets is not very impressive.

[XByoot]

How can you program logic into a driverless car to cater for illogical human actions? Eg,choosing between hitting another car or avoid a collision and hit a kid chasing a ball? More automation dumbs down drivers and reduces the human/machine interface.The good side is if it's all on rails it removes stupidity from the equation,or does it just dumb us down? Driverless rail .. I think it's here already in controlled environments like big airports etc,but cars...dunno. Then you have to train dumb *** people,who you've made even lazier and dumber to react to a system failure,good luck coz they're probably so far removed from what's going on to even comprehend the problem let alone resolve the issue and take over.....but hey,they can sue the manufacturers instead. Automation is good,but it presents a new set of problems..

[irish2]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

Already implemented in some cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLnHcJAlEDM

Let's not forget self driving cars are already being tested driving on the road with human drivers, and virtually all accidents so far have been caused by human drivers.

Just like a crazy granny that does unexpected things, and whilst not technically at fault, still causes a great many accidents.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...ing-a-key-flaw

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by BAXRSIX

I'd like to know how autonomous cars can handle some of the following;

1. An unmarked police car with flashing lights behind it wanting it to pull over? An unmarked car will be transmitting to all the traffic approaching about its status, and the cars will act accordingly.

2. How does the car know what the speed limit is on freeways that have variable overhead speed limits? Variable limit data is broadcast in real time, cars will know if the limit has changed while between signs and change speed before reaching the next sign.

3. How does the car know where to park... Which are no standing zones, 15 minute limit or one hour parking spots?

4. How does it navigate new roads not yet on the latest GPS maps?

5. When it's running low on fuel (or needs a charge), does it automatically detour to a petrol or charging station to be able to complete the trip, and how does it know the station is open? Yes it will, and if google can tell me if my local fish and chip shop is open (and that 6pm Fridays are really busy) then you will find an open station/charger.

6. How does it know how to detour, change lanes or merge if a roadworks worker holds up a sign and waves his hands to detour ?

7. How does it know there's an oil spill up ahead and to take it easy around the corner?

8. Flood waters, potholes, debris on the road to avoid????

9. How does it know it has to stop at a mobile drug / alcohol testing station directed by police?

10. How would its many sensors and cameras work in heavy fog?

And so many unforeseen circumstances that only a human can detect?

The next step is ALL cars will be transmitting data to others even if not running autonomously.
Scenario 1- Autonomously driven car is approaching an intersection across which it has right of way. Approaching the intersection at 90 degrees a car driven by a human (transmitting data-speed/braking input/steering input) which has a stop sign. Skynet can see this happening, that the human driven car is not showing signs of steering or braking input. Autonomous car will stop before its passenger can realise whats going on.

Scenario 2-A car slows down on the free way for whatever reason, all the cars behind know this has occurred, a pile up will be avoided before it has happened.

Scenario 3-Driving in 3 lanes of solid traffic, a human driven car next to you now wants your lane but hasn't looked where they are going, YOUR car knows the millisecond the human driver inputs the steering control even before their wheels start turning. Evasive action or emergency control can take over the situation. This has all happened while you were reading the morning news.

Bring it on I say

.

[Lachlan Oak]

Originally Posted by Ben73

I want to know what sort of roads all these tested driverless cars have been on, how they handled varying surfaces in varying weather conditions and what sort of unexpected hazards they have negotiated. Ie fallen tree, broken down cars etc.
Driverless cars driving around in perfect traffic conditions of a few freeways and city streets is not very impressive.

Couldn't agree more👍

[Lachlan Oak]

Originally Posted by FPV6

autonomous cars are coming if its here by the next 30 years ill be 72 not really giving a toss

Lol your right 👍 It will be upto our kids to get us from A to B. That's a scary thought 😅

[Sabantien]

I think what it's ultimately going to come down to is the question, what kills more people, bad drivers or automated vehicles being unable to anticipate illogical humans?

[XByoot]

Have a read of a few Airbus accidents...you can't stall and Airbus,we don't train pilots because it's not necessary,the 8 computers all doing the same job will come up with a resolution to avoid it happening.... Air France A330 in a perfectly fly able aircraft stalled an A330 full of passengers and it plummeted into the ocean off South America instantly vaporising all on board.....now these guys aren't amateurs,highly trained people. They now train pilots in stall recovery...why? Because computers don't get it right always..humans need to recognise the problems and limitations of the system. One single sensor failed and the computers failed to ignore the false input. It's good stuff,but like I say,people get lazy,dumber, and more ignorant expecting computers to look after them,resulting in a whole new range of issues,and I'm certain your average drive by wire buzz box won't have the redundancies of an advanced aircraft.

[Lachlan Oak]

Originally Posted by JC

Tesla already does this. I have been in one when on auto, and it wouldn't change lanes because the gap to the car in front and the one behind was too small - it slowed slightly and pulled in behind.

On adaptive cruise, it even read a roadworks speed sign and slowed from 90 to 60 (the new temp speed limit for the road works). Remarkable technology!

That's insane, I did meet a guy that just brought a new one. Um there not cheep!!$$$$$$$$ but on that he said they don't pay for any service. Mm I find that hard to believe? But I could be wrong

[Lachlan Oak]

Originally Posted by buggo

I think there's potential for insurance companies to be even more profitable when all cars are autonomous.

Using rough numbers, lets say accidents/events drop to 10% of current levels. Insurance companies can drop their rates to 20% of current levels.

As far as the consumer is concerned, they are getting a great deal paying $160 a year instead of the $800 they used to pay.
But the insurance company is only paying $32 / 20% in claims for each $160 policy, instead of $320 / 40% in claims for each of the old $800 policies.

This means that as far as percentages go, combined ratios will be way better than current numbers. Though in real dollars, this could be lower. It will be all about high volume for the insurers.



This could lead to the occurrence of a few real big guys in motor insurance dropping their rates to well below what it should be (say $80 instead of $160). This will cut out all the smaller players as they try to stay competitive, but don't have the financial backing to pay out claims at an overall loss for years in a row, forcing them to fold. Where do their customers go? To one of the big guys who can afford to take on these losses for years in a row.

Once most of the market is insured with the top 3 or 4 big players, rates will increase to that $160 mark. And with high volume, each % the rate goes up means big profit.

That's a very good point. I will be to old to worry about it. But not good for the next generation.

[roddy1960]

G'day all..Thanks for the replies , enjoyed getting your opinions across the board.. I wish I'd been able to get the young bloke's name but i had to leave the last part of the interview..sadly on the clock at work. What he kept repeating in the five or so minutes I did hear was the advancements in the technology already in the past decade. Let's just say he was right and by 2030 fully driver less cars are for real all over the place. Let's also say that they are basically foolproof. I wonder will they be able to be deactivated if the passenger/driver/owner chose or needed to for certain circumstances. This could be similar to current passenger aircraft with Auto Pilot functionality..Personally I think that this , for most , would be a more desirable outcome. As we all know ,cars are using some basic autonomy already . We already have blind spot monitoring , lane departure warning , parking assist and companies like Subaru have cameras reading and activating collision warning functions and essentially over riding the driver in current models..
Perhaps the real world issue is the complexity of a huge array of outside incidents that happen every single day . Will all this be accounted for better than the human brain can in a split second and will this electronic 'brain' be able to have instincts when/if total control of the vehicle is handed over to it when something invariably goes horribly wrong and it does very very often..
Only time will tell..Cheers Rod..

[XByoot]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pN41LvuSz10
Automation dependency......it's a complex issue that needs a well trained person...the punters in this video would be light years ahead of the average car numb nut car driver yet are faced with the same issues headed our way! Your right but,horses for courses,automation is a good tool not a dependancy or excuse for dumbing down skills.

[CyberWasp]

I point my finger at all the people who bought and drive automatic cars.
If you trace this new autonomous technology backwards, its genesis was the automatic gear box.
Autonomous Vehicles could never have got a foothold in a world where everyone drives a manual vehicle.
Yes this is tongue in cheek comments by the way.

[.:4:.]

If everything is going the ways of automation, why is everyone not catching the bus or train these days? Same thing isn't it? Someone else doing the driving?

[wodahs]

no it isn't
some one else driving isn't the same as no one driving at all

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by superyob

Burn it all! Name one single advancement that has not brought untold misery to human kind...

Fermentation.

[superyob]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Fermentation.

Right! Besides fermentation, name one single advancement that has not brought untold misery to human kind...