Driverless Vehicles, Coming To A Road Near You Too Soon!

I suggested we send vulnerable low speed vehicles around, preferably with autonomy zealots strapped into them, in congested London traffic. Let's see how safe they feel amongst the trucks, buses and cabs.

Remember when everyone was telling us AI was imminently going to mean robots doing all our chores?

How about Concorde? Is it always a relentless move 'forward' or do we accept some middle road 'compromise'?

Smart bombs are a relevant comparison, as an example of over stating the abilities of tech.

This always happens, the people developing technology or applying it overstate the abilities.

One of my friends develops software for autonomous military equipment, and he is quite concerned about some of the mooted developments in autonomous vehicles mixing with 'ordinary' road users.

I can understand why.

I like driving in my car.

I cannot understand people who hate driving choosing to drive. Surely you can afford a chauffeur Techno, so why wait for an automated one?
 
Reading LGF's post I am reminded that the car industry actively smothers any tech that results in cars being longer lived, so they are merely hoping to keep abreast of changes in consumer behaviour.

These new cars will be designed to fail. They need to to support their producers business model.
 
highlandsflyer":1gl9y62z said:
I cannot understand people who hate driving choosing to drive. Surely you can afford a chauffeur Techno, so why wait for an automated one?
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As it happens my brother is a chauffeur, he likes driving. We don't speak.

I drive because I need to get somewhere. That is the point of driving, a means to an end. I have a suspicion of people who see it as an end in itself.

I have no interest in changing gear so I bought an automatic. I have no interest in maintaining speed, lane or anything else so cruise, lane assist etc are all welcome advances. Fully auto is the holy grail. I understand in times past driving was an event in itself, new fangled cars, empty motorways, freedom of the open road, Sunday jaunts to the coast etc. But as we get more crowded, more rushed, more expensive that's gone. Driving for most is a drudge of repetitive journeys on clogged roads with endless delays, roadworks and the odd fatal accident. I don't think I'm alone in wishing I could dispense with it altogether.

I think also that people are missing the point. Probably the single biggest marketing tools in cars today are emissions and mpg, normal people value those over speed or vague notions of 'handling'. A one hour commute each way is up to 520 hours a year wasted. That's 13 weeks of your life, every year. Imagine the marketing guys putting that in front of Mr & Mrs Average.

I don't know how it will all play out, who will win. But I do know your average Joe uses Google multiple times a day, benefits from Maps, Apps, Gmail and everything else without paying a penny. Brand recognition and trust like no other. Billions invested. Plus the fact that every major car company is in, governments are in, tech companies are in. I think they might have done some research. Against some middle aged petrol heads determined to cling on to a previous age? I know who my money is with.
 
legrandefromage":33ea37pz said:
The way you are perceived if you dont have the latest model. The lies told about recycling older cars that are still perfectly usable and just as safe as anything on the roads. How you are treated if you dont drive or are happy to rattle around in an old motor.
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This isn't driven by the car manufacturers, it's driven by legislation and consumers. Consumers want the latest and greatest, so if you don't make it you'll go bust (SAAB, Rover) unless you occupy a niche that no one else competes with (IIRC the Defender in all it's guises was the most profitable car line ever. Despite us only spending 24p a year on development).
Governments are pushing for lower emissions, and doing it with crap testing regimes/poorly thought out requirements (catalytic converter legislation for starters), so we need new cars, with new emissions systems. So the old cars are "scrap". Even though total emissions go up. Then they give tax breaks to new cars. So as a manufacturer you have to keep up. And so on.

If none of this happened, i'd be out of a job, but C'est la vie. I'd have to go and work designing buses.


highlandsflyer":33ea37pz said:
I suggested we send vulnerable low speed vehicles around, preferably with autonomy zealots strapped into them, in congested London traffic. Let's see how safe they feel amongst the trucks, buses and cabs.
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This just demonstrates how little you understand of the technology, and where it is designed to be used, and the limitations that are in place.

highlandsflyer":33ea37pz said:
Smart bombs are a relevant comparison, as an example of over stating the abilities of tech.
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But absolutely irrelevant for demonstrating how autonomous drive will cause carnage on the roads.

highlandsflyer":33ea37pz said:
This always happens, the people developing technology or applying it overstate the abilities.
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No, marketing and the red tops/tabloids overstate the abilities, as they don't understand what they are talking about. The amount of safety modelling, testing and analysis we are doing now is "quite significant", ISO 26262 is the main framework, but there are a dozen or more others.

highlandsflyer":33ea37pz said:
One of my friends develops software for autonomous military equipment, and he is quite concerned about some of the mooted developments in autonomous vehicles mixing with 'ordinary' road users.

I can understand why.
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He works in the wrong industry to know what the limitations and restrictions will be. He's also got a COMPLETELY different legal and moral framework driven by completely different requirements. And can deliver utter crap to customers, as they'll just keep on paying until it's right. Doesn't work like that in the real world. Unless you are Elon Musk or Steve Jobs.
highlandsflyer":33ea37pz said:
I like driving in my car.
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And? Autonomous doesn't mean what you think it means. Most of the next two, three or four generations of autonomous cars will still have steering wheels, throttle, brake (clutch will probably die on it's arse in the next few years though.)

It just sounds like you've seen/heard a few soundbites and decided you don't like the idea.

highlandsflyer":33ea37pz said:
Reading LGF's post I am reminded that the car industry actively smothers any tech that results in cars being longer lived, so they are merely hoping to keep abreast of changes in consumer behaviour.

These new cars will be designed to fail. They need to to support their producers business model.
Click to expand...
LOL, Just. LOL. :facepalm:

I bet you believe the oil industry "actively smothers" the tech that allows us to build 100mpg cars as well.
 
A quick look down my street and the newest vehicle is a 15 plate. The rest are 10, 12 years old. How are these owners going to be persuaded to spend their money? I read somewhere that there were less teenagers taking up driving so it may end up a generation thing of removing the ' need' for driving everywhere?
 
Can't come soon enough. Centrally pooled autonomous vehicles for local transport to hubs. Then train/bus services between hubs.
Or working from home where possible.
 
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