What is Digg?108 Comments
- apache2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18All that and no video? video would be nice :)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17It would eliminate drunk driving.
Eliminate traffic jams which is mostly caused by the reaction speed of humans.(light turns green all cars would move in sync)
it would save fuel by drafting (trcukers and companies would save tons, but there would be highway trains.. long lines of trucks drafting each other.
you wouldnt get lost.. unless you were watching it on tv
it would reduce our insurance
I could shave on way to work without wrecking
I understand a lot of people like to drive and maybe we will have lanes or places for them but i for one am glad they finally are putting the auto in automobile.
The amount of time i spend driving for fun is dawrfed by the amount of time i spend angry in traffic. - GliTCH82, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11If leaders today could sacrifice "fun" for "safety" for bringing the number of car wrecks a year to almost zero, they would do it in a heartbeat. I think in the future, computers are gonna blur the line between what you really can control and what you think you can control. For example, you want to change lanes but you don't see the car in your blind spot, so you turn the wheel but the car will simply refuse to turn. You're only going to be allowed to do what the car can deem safe, and that's about as much control as you will have.
Manual driving for fun and exhiliration is going to be more of a hobby, only allowed in specific locations. - stalefries, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10IIRC, the winning car WAS a Volkswagen.
http://grandchallenge.org - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9So is the idea that once they've automated the highway system, the speed limit will be raised by 75MPH? If so, I think that might be a big push to convince people to give up their driving and opt for an automated vehicle. After all, which would you rather have -- lots of traffic jams due to human beings driving and spend two hours getting to work driving 20mph? Or an automated system that alleviates jams and can get you to work in 15 minutes?
- gcube9x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Awesome, but I wonder how good it is at avoiding other cars while going 150mph...
- marshn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"A sat-nav system tracks its exact position with pin-point precision to within an inch."
That's big pin... - PhantomZmoove, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9"it would reduce our insurance"
HA! - amonthei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8This is very cool and very impressive. Does anyone know if this is intended to be for anything more than a test environment? Obviously the real world does not have perfect conditions like on a test track with cones to tell you where your boundaries are. Nonetheless, it still blows me away.
- leszek, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10humans are obsolete
- mtvkilledusall, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Some people don't and that's a major issue holding back development of fully automated roads.
I, for one, would love to be able to hop on the highway and then be able to take my hands off the wheel to do something else with my time.
For instance, I could do some work, play video games, watch a movie, sleep, possibly even have sex.
I think that yes, people should retain control in certain situations, like driving down a relaxing, winding country road, but the car should take control again once it gets back on the highway. - DiggLurker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Better yet, a video of it against the stig. Top gear are you listening?
- Amaguq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Finally, I can upgrade from that brick I've been putting on my gas pedal!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It's going to be one or the other: either all cars with be automated or none of them.
Automated cars will be able to communicate and coordinate their routes. But an automated car can't possibly predict or respond reasonably to a bad driver, let alone an inattentive/drunk one.
Maybe in the future when there's a better source of energy for powering cars, there'll be 2 or 3 special lines (old HOV lanes) for automated cars. At least with that method, cars could travel much faster because of the decreased risk of accidents. - CaptRR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Must be something better than GPS that's for sure, my in car gps is lucky if its within 5 feet, which admittedly is pretty good, just not as good or reliable as a self driving car would need to be.
- borkov, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Outstanding. It's about time. Put it in production. Assuming all safety provisions have been made. :)
- zyang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5this is more than just cool. think about how many people around you have been affectted by traffic accidents. having a fully automated car reduces the chance of human error. if they do it right, this could save a lot of lives.
- eppitek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5i wonder if they would allow a younger age limit for driving since there would be no control issues
- colinmhayes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5it might reduce auto insurance, but robot insurance would skyrocket.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Automated cars will be able to communicate and coordinate their routes. But an automated car can't possibly predict or respond reasonably to a bad driver, let alone an inattentive/drunk one.
I guess you havent seen any videos of automated cars... or the race the dod sponcers.. I have seen a video were an 18 wheeler avoided a ball and a child running into the street.. the kid was the child of the lead designer.. which showd his faith in his product. I bet these things can be programed to be even better with bad drivers than humans.. especially since if run slightly off the road, they wont yank back on like a lot of humans do and flip the car. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8"I have seen a video were an 18 wheeler avoided a ball and a child running into the street.. the kid was the child of the lead designer.."
What a ***** dad! - Semioclast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sure, it can drive itself. But can it drive, talk on the cell phone and eat at the same time?
- klang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4probably as good as YOU avoiding other cars driving at 150mph .. i.e. very good as long as other cars behave in a rational way
- gcube9x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3There will have to be an integrated manual override. Anything from politics, to terrorists, to gang fights, to hackers, to policemen can take control of your car and you are at the mercy of the party in control...
- Nygma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I don't see how the individual could possibly be held responsible for something that they had no control over. That would be illogical from the way I understand the vehicle to work.
- TheMattrix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3But everyone already goes 80!
This would be asking them to slow down - something they probably won't want to do.
Raised *BY* 75. - jguy584, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Im sure that when (not if) it comes out it will definilty have the option of being used or not. This way if you want to drive you can, and if you wan the computer to drive you can do that aswell.
I just think it will be great because i can go out and get totally wasted and not have to worry about how Im gonna drive home. - brainScan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Would suck to drive into a tunnel if you were using GPS...
- Nesh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3...or a black Trans Am.
- jellomizer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I sure hope they have red LEDs that swipe across the front of the car like in Night Rider.
- AMSRay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Is Volkswagen going to change their slogan from "Drivers Wanted" to "Drivers Not Necessary"?
- CaptRR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Perhaps we could build segregated highways, i.e., highways where people are not allowed to drive, only certified self driving cars are allowed to enter.
- Jordan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't know about you guys, but I just love how quickly humans are advancing, it's really amazing when you take a step back and really think about all we've achieved, and we continue to push ahead faster and faster. I can't wait to see what our future holds.
- dinu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Is it running windows?
- beedo34, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4where was Volkswagen when the DARPA challenge was on?
these guys would pwn. - klang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I was disapointed that they hadn't used a VW Beetle for this experiment ..
- vankho, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's really interesting. I'm curious as to who would be liable if there were to be an accident. Is the the individual at fault or Volkswagon for designing a flawed automated driving system?
- Jordan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Maybe VW didn't want to be responsible for developing this technology for the U.S. Military to use ? I don't think that's a very big stretch of the imagination.
- dvadr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've seen a couple posters ask why this wasn't entered in the Grand Challenge. Isn't it more likely that VW was given access to whatever the Stanford team came up with (seemed mostly like rad software) because they gave them a car, and this is a refined implementation of that?
Also, I agree with those who think that this will be limited in implementation, at least in the beginning. It will be limited to the interstate system, and be separated like HOV lanes from the 'regular' drivers. Don't think it'll catch on? Imagine having to drive near 65 or sit in traffic while auto-car drivers are flying past and watching a movie.
I doubt there will be some 'hackable' central server. More likely cars will network with nearby cars, e.g. "I have to exit, please make space for merging" or "I have just had a tire failure, immediately clear the area." - addakorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Whenever I plow thru a car with my 3800lb Steel Mercedes
- Stephenishere, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Sweet, but i dont think people will want to give up their fun in driving. A lot of people enjoy being in control.
Would be good if they can fine tune it for buses and such. Would be very good for mass transport. - InsaneMachine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sounds like a small fender bender might not be so small or "cheap" anymore
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They keep saying the same thing about the MTA Transit Workers Union in New York. And still, they're currently beta testing self-driving trains on the L line, which eliminates one of the two transit workers from each of those trains.
Automating trucking will come in a way similar to the way that FedEx took over Consolidated Freightways to make FedEx Freight. One Monday, all the Teamsters showed up to CF for work to find the offices padlocked, and a sign saying they were all out of a job. Nobody was there to fire them, so there was nobody for them to intimidate. Didn't take FedEx very long to re-badge, then fill the trucks with their own drivers. I'm not sure however if FedEx Freight has Union Operators or not... - panique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It'll probably phone up the CHP and rat you out if you program it to exceed the speed limit.
- hotdrop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The trucking uninon would never allow this to become a reality. Im sure a number of other unions would be fighting this as well
- EasY_TargeT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I found what i want for christmas
- Ogopogo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Check out: Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway at: http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2006/140606Highway.htm
I'd rather see GPS-controlled self-navigating super B-Train tandem big-rigs instead of hords of small trucks with sleepy Mexicans hopped-up on speed or meth. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What happens when the GPS uplink fails? Does it gracefully come to a stop without killing you?
I think automatic-driving cars are a great idea, but not if they depend on some remote third-party point of failure (the GPS). The advantage of human drivers is that they don't need their brains linked into a satellite to continue to function. - osgeek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah, but I bet that computers will just be able to do the job better than we do for day-to-day driving before long. The average person on the road is just really poor at driving. The sooner we can take people out of the equation, the better.
Once the cars are completely computer run, we can put those fake steering wheels in place like toddlers sometimes have. Control freaks can sit there and turn on that like they're doing something. :) - rainrunner87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That centralization is exactly why this scares me so much. If we centralize too much, then it could get to the point where Joe Hacker can tell your car where to go, or the Government shuts down your car if they don't like you. Or maybe cars of noted investigative journalists are suddenly unable to get anywhere near a suspicious lab? Too much power to centralize.
What I'd like would be this sort autonav, but based solely on shared radar and IR and such. Cars scan with sensors, share their next couple steps of course information with neighboring cars, and fine-tune their course model as they go. Data is submitted to a central computer for one purpose: as courses are logged and updated, cars tune their courses to avoid high-traffic areas, thus evolving a flatter traffic distribution. -
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