Self-Driving cars / autos merged threadfest

[elvisboy77]

Hell, they cannot even get my automatic transmission to shift before the engine hits the rev limiter.  Thing dies on me when I need it to go.

What makes you really think that full automatic control will ever be anywhere close to reliable to the level needed ?

With many things, it sure sounds cool

[PJPR01]

driver stays always responsible. Also what Tesla thinks, they can't take responsibility for all tesla accidents.

It seems like it would have to be the driver, as the driver is the one actively putting the Tesla into automatic mode.

Let's hope automatic here doesn't mean it turns into an Audi 5000 unintended acceleration issue when the ACC unit goes on the fritz and can't properly calculate distances between the cars.

Why anyone would want to give up the sheer joy of driving is beyond me...although there are probably people who shouldn't be driving, this might be an interesting alternative, but I just can't see those people shelling out $80K for a Tesla and then the add'l bucks for the self driving software.  Might just be cheaper to hire an Uber...

[oldbike54]

Why anyone would want to give up the sheer joy of driving is beyond me...

 Actually I never cared much for driving anything with 4 or more wheels , well , except for the occasional foray in hi-po go karts and a bit of auto crossing many years ago .

  Dusty

[canuguzzi]

Cruise Automatic Redundant Control
CARC

See, you've had it all this time and didn't know it.

[Luap McKeever]

I would love one.  I could nap in between service calls :-)

[fotoguzzi]

It seems like it would have to be the driver, as the driver is the one actively putting the Tesla into automatic mode.

Let's hope automatic here doesn't mean it turns into an Audi 5000 unintended acceleration issue when the ACC unit goes on the fritz and can't properly calculate distances between the cars.

Why anyone would want to give up the sheer joy of driving is beyond me...although there are probably people who shouldn't be driving, this might be an interesting alternative, but I just can't see those people shelling out $80K for a Tesla and then the add'l bucks for the self driving software.  Might just be cheaper to hire an Uber...

Soon UBER WILL PICK YOU UP DRIVERLESS.  and Tesla is not the only manufacturer working on this, they all are so in 5 or so years a much less expensive car could have the self drive feature. and soon those cars will all talk to each other so they can know what's ahead of the car in front of the line of self drivers.

[GearheadGrrrl]

Can anyone explain to me how the driver, who makes $30k a year as a state representative, can afford a $100,000+ Tesla?

[Chuck in Indiana]

Can anyone explain to me how the driver, who makes $30k a year as a state representative, can afford a $100,000+ Tesla?

You're kidding.. right? 

[fotoguzzi]

Can anyone explain to me how the driver, who makes $30k a year as a state representative, can afford a $100,000+ Tesla?

State rep? that's a part time gig, He's got a real job that pays big money.

[homebrew]

The Google car can self drive anywhere that has been mapped for such purposes , surface streets , freeways , deal with stop lights , etc . Don't know why the Tesla would be limited .

  Dusty

Google and Tesla are taking pretty much opposite approaches to autonomous cars.  Google is taking the mapping approach.  They map everywhere they expect the car to go down to the centimeter and the car bases its decisions on that.  Most of the cars information resides in the cloud and the actual on-board capability is fairly sparse. It's pretty limited on dealing with the unexpected outside of a small universe of expected unexpected things, if that makes any sense.  In exchange, it's highly precise and can find parking spaces and that sort of thing.

Tesla is taking the sensor approach.  The car knows very little about where it is and where its going but it carries an enormous amount of onboard intelligence to sense the immediate world around it so it's better with trafficky things like braking cars, crossing animals, and the like. The tradeoff is that it can back into a parking space on its own but it can't decide whether the space is big enough unless you tell it.

The eventual autonomous car that people drive will be a merger of these approaches.

[oldbike54]

Google and Tesla are taking pretty much opposite approaches to autonomous cars.  Google is taking the mapping approach.  They map everywhere they expect the car to go down to the centimeter and the car bases its decisions on that.  Most of the cars information resides in the cloud and the actual on-board capability is fairly sparse. It's pretty limited on dealing with the unexpected outside of a small universe of expected unexpected things, if that makes any sense.  In exchange, it's highly precise and can find parking spaces and that sort of thing.

Tesla is taking the sensor approach.  The car knows very little about where it is and where its going but it carries an enormous amount of onboard intelligence to sense the immediate world around it so it's better with trafficky things like braking cars, crossing animals, and the like. The tradeoff is that it can back into a parking space on its own but it can't decide whether the space is big enough unless you tell it.

The eventual autonomous car that people drive will be a merger of these approaches.

 Interesting , thanks for educating us .

  Dusty

[Turin]

The idea of self driving cars un-nerves me. This keeps popping into my head...
http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2008/10_cars/herbie.jpg

[Penderic]

ALL RIGHTY THEN! LETS ROLL!!

 

[tris]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-kdRdzxdZQ

[charlie b]

I'd like to have one.  Would love it for cross country driving.  Might convince me to get another motorhome  :)

[Wayne Orwig]

They still have not made a car that has turn signals that operate automatically. You expect them to make a sudden leap forward to cars that can drive themselves reliably.

[blackcat]

Nice car, the Model S 70D is in the $60K price range depending on your location. As a comparison, the Cadillac ELR Coupe starts at $57,500.

[oldbike54]

They still have not made a car that has turn signals that operate automatically. You expect them to make a sudden leap forward to cars that can drive themselves reliably.

 Seems that may be the point Wayne , eliminate the , er , non turn indicator using operator 

 OK Pennie , here is your chance to dazzle us 

  Dusty

[Arizona Wayne]

So if you're in 1 of these Teslas you can get drunk and it's no big deal `cause you're not really driving ?  Kind of like being in the back of a motorhome rolling down the road or a limousine?

[NCAmother]

I think he is holding his hands like that either because he is Italian and must use his hands to speak , or more likely to accentuate the fact that the car is driving its self .

  Did hear something about the Google car getting pulled over by the po po . One wonders how that exchange went ? " Drivers license and registration please." Silence . "Oh , being a smart guy huh , step out of the car. "
Silence . "Now SIR , out of the car." Silence . "OK , now you are in a heap o' trouble." Silence .

  Dusty

And would you actually need a DL to show the coppers?

[Rough Edge racing]

I'd like to have one.  Would love it for cross country driving.  Might convince me to get another motorhome  :)

 How many miles does a Tesla go before the battery pack is drained , 250 -300 miles? So then you pull into a charging station. fill up with electricity and drive off in 5 minutes?  Or do you wait all night for the tank to fill ? 

[oldbike54]

And would you actually need a DL to show the coppers?

 And when the self driving cars all meet up for a few drinks , is there that one that starts bragging about it outran the po po , or got a ticket for doing 47 in a 45 MPH zone ? 

  Dusty

[pikipiki]

The tech is a little limited at the moment but once there are millions of cars like the tesla on the road and the vehicles can start to interact with each other it will really start to work because the cars will have not only the benefit of the sensors but those of vehicles around them so they won't crash into each other they will work on together. There will be no cutting people up, cars will filter into lanes neat and tidy left, right, left, right. Probably end up with the outside lane reserved for them. Could be bad news for BMW owners, be able to get around quicker in a Google car. Probably make roads better and safer for mopeds and small bikes. Might be a different story for big bikes.

[oldbike54]

 One wonders if police cars will also become self driving ? Might make high speed pursuits kind of boring .

 "This is unit 156 , we are in pursuit of a white sedan , speeds approaching 51 MPH , now we are stopping at the intersection of Main and Asimov Blvd ."

  Dusty
 

[stormshearon]

And of course at some point, the ethical questions need to be answered. The vehicle determines that the accident is un-avoidable. Does it save the single person in it? OR does it save the 6 people in the other vehicle and sacrifice it's own passenger? Or does it drive onto the sidewalk and kill the pedestrians? The software running autonomous vehicles will have to be programmed to handle all situations that they encounter. So someone gets to decide who maybe lives\who maybe dies.

OR maybe it just throws it 'hands' in the air, closes its 'eyes' and hopes for the best.

[redrider]

"Gay Deceiver, take me home!"

[tris]

So if you're in 1 of these Teslas you can get drunk and it's no big deal `cause your not really driving ?  Kind of like being in the back of a motorhome rolling down the road or a limousine?

Mhhhh .... and all the decisions as to whether to stop, swerve, crash into a wall or take out the kid have already been made for us by a faceless programmer somewhere.

When one of these cars kills their first person, the fall out from will make the VW debacle look like a drop in the ocean

[Mark West]

This is way over-yhped. My boss has one and I've driven it. their so called self driving is no where near as sophisticated as a google car. Basically it follows lane lines and controls speed. It does not recognize stop signs, lights, or any traffic instruction. If you're in the right lane and there is an exit, it sometimes takes the exit cause it's following the lines. If you're on a street where it can't see the lines, it just turns off. If you take your hands off the wheel for more than 3 minutes it will start warning you to put them back.

The auto speed control is kind of nice but the steering thing is pretty worthless. Just a gimmick really.

[jas67]

A very good question . My understanding based on nothing but some reading is that the self driving cars will require insurance the same as driver operated cars . The insurance companies seem to be discussing lower rates on Google cars based on a decreased risk . Still , a very good question that probably has not been answered completely yet .

  Dusty

Because there are so many that can't be trusted to drive w/o distractions of their mobile devices, food, makeup, etc,  once the technology can be trusted by the insurance companies more than people, the insurance companies will be the ones to mandate that no one can drive their own car any more.   They will do this through rates.    You'll pay 10X or more to drive your own car.    I'm not sure what this means for motorcycles.

[blackcat]

  I'm not sure what this means for motorcycles.

Our rates should go down because there will be less people out there trying to kill us.