Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
Eric Walker eric.wal...@gmail.com wrote: It was in light of this kind of traffic in heavier metropolitan areas that we wondered whether there was a carefully-worded safety filter applied to the algorithm which would cause the Google car to adjust to the traffic around it. Apparently not. Surely this feature could be added if the cars prove hazardous. This sounds like a minor improvement compared to the overall project. - Jed
Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
Maybe this problem could be by-passed either by disabling the GPS, or by applying some type of material to obstruct the speed-sensor. Should the vehicle be designed with a no-tampering mechanism, then, don't buy it. Another solution to this problem would be to build a vehicle that has no speed limit and/or requires no roads. /HTML
Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
On Jul 14, 2012, at 7:07, Jed Rothwell jedrothw...@gmail.com wrote: Surely this feature could be added if the cars prove hazardous. This sounds like a minor improvement compared to the overall project. I agree. It wasn't intended to be a quip; more a musing on the possible legal considerations that Google may need to juggle in order to get approval. A 10 mph difference is probably not all that dangerous. It's when it gets to be 20 mph or more that things become a concern. Eric
Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
The speeding problem will be solved by increased enforcement of traffic laws and special lanes for cars that want to drive faster. Automated enforcement will be trivial as new technologies such as toll collection transponders become mandatory. Of course, there may be some reluctance to embrace the technology, as seen in the UK: http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm But special lanes are already here. In California we have some freeways with variable pricing that lets non-carpool drivers drive in faster lanes for a fee. The price changes on how much time a driver can save. But a combination approach could be acceptable too--where people are charged a sliding fee based on how fast they drive over the nominal speed limit. - Brad
RE: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
The Kiplinger Letter (July 13, 2012) had the following to say about the future of automotive technology: *** As automotive technology races ahead. The impact will ripple through the economy. Advances will build on steps already taken: Onboard electronic sensors enabling cars on the road now to parallel park, jam on the brakes if traffic suddenly halts and warn of lane-straying. Within a few years, such features will be widespread and will perform increasingly sophisticated functions. monitoring driver alertness, routing trips and more. Then.a critical communications leap: Onboard wireless transmitters that allow vehicles to relay their speed and locations to one another. By 2020, all new cars will have the technology. Odds are that Uncle Sam will require at least some of it as a safety measure, much as seat belts are now. Self-driving autos won't be far behind, taking full advantage of car-to-car communications and electronic controls. Drivers will still be able to pilot themselves, but most folks will trust the car. That will trim travel times for road warriors of all sorts.commuters, truckers, delivery drivers, etc. Employers will benefit, too: Heavy traffic wastes countless man-hours.in L.A., for example, 56 per worker a year. The combination of autonomous cars and wireless traffic management systems will route traffic more efficiently through congested urban areas and bottlenecks. As a result.better fuel efficiency and less need to widen many roads. Dramatic safety increases, too, slashing the number of crashes and fatalities by up to 75%. So.lower auto insurance premiums and fewer auto body repairs. Fewer crashes also mean less need for heavy steel bodies to withstand accidents. Plus good news for older drivers: Safety overrides may keep them on the road longer. For marketers.a whole new arena for highly customized advertising. As cars plug in to the Internet for traffic routing, they'll signal where they're headed, triggering in-car ads. Headed past a doughnut shop? You may get a coupon for it. Such smart cars could also be the key to winning back younger buyers the 20- and 30-somethings who are abandoning car ownership, no longer seeing it as a mark of independence and financial success. Their passion for technology, combined with greater driving convenience of autonomous cars, may draw them back. Of course, there'll be some downsides and obstacles to negotiate: Liability if the car's driving when a crash occurs, is the carmaker responsible? Can governments make drivers cede control of vehicles at crowded junctions and other bottlenecks? Who'll control the Web data that drivers see? Privacy concerns are also inevitable. But on the whole, the technology's positives will far outweigh the negatives. *** Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
Cadillac Super Cruise available in 2015: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksl-Fbmvxj4 T
Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
These cars may have group adjustment and an aerial view, from the collective motion and positon of cars. Humans can just see the surroundings in a traffic jam. So, automatic cars may considerably speed up city traffic. 2012/7/13 Jed Rothwell jedrothw...@gmail.com See: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/07/13/eric_schmidt_on_self_driving_cars_biggest_problem_they_obey_speed_limits.html -- Daniel Rocha - RJ danieldi...@gmail.com
Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
Here is a message I posted at Slate. I have quoted this here before, years ago. It is worth repeating -- Some people may feel these cars will never become popular, or Americans will not accept them because we like to drive. On that subject, let me quote the keynote speaker of the National Association of Carriage Builders in 1907: Eighty-five percent of the horse-drawn vehicle industry of the country is untouched by the automobile. In proof of the foregoing permit me to say that in 1906 - 7, and coincident with an enormous demand for automobiles, the demand for buggies reached the highest tide of its history. The man who predicts the downfall of the automobile is a fool; the man who denies its great necessity and general adoption for many uses is a bigger fool; and the man who predicts the general annihilation of the horse and his vehicle is the greatest fool of all.
Re: [Vo]:The Annoying Thing About Self-Driving Cars: They Obey the Speed Limit
On Fri, Jul 13, 2012 at 1:27 PM, Jed Rothwell jedrothw...@gmail.com wrote: See: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/07/13/eric_schmidt_on_self_driving_cars_biggest_problem_they_obey_speed_limits.html I was having a conversation with some colleagues about the speed algorithm of the Google cars. Anyone who drives near where I live will probably agree that the matter of driving above the speed limit is not really one of convenience. It's quite dangerous when nearly everyone within sight is driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit on a curvy highway, and then you come up to someone in your lane who is driving significantly slower than everyone else. You do whatever you can to get into another lane before you're trapped behind the car and will have a hard time safely changing lanes because of the quickly passing traffic. It was in light of this kind of traffic in heavier metropolitan areas that we wondered whether there was a carefully-worded safety filter applied to the algorithm which would cause the Google car to adjust to the traffic around it. Apparently not. Eric
