Jones Beene wrote:
We are getting to the stage in "relative capability" that we will
soon be able to trust computer intelligence, for many dangerous
tasks - more than the human variety - at least as incarnated in the
average cabbie.
I think that it takes very little "raw" intelligence to drive a car.
Insects fly at high speed through three-dimensional space, and they
seldom whack into objects. In many ways computers are still not as
intelligent as insects, but eventually they will be. The DARPA Grand
Challenge and Urban Challenge projects have made great strides toward
autonomous computerized vehicles.
NHK news has recently reported progress in semiautonomous vehicles
that will be introduced by Japanese automakers soon. These vehicles
employ radar to detect other vehicles and pedestrians, and they
include low powered close range wireless networks communicating with
other vehicles to avoid collisions.
I covered some of these topics in Chapter 17 of my book.
The elevated robot car setup described in Technology Review is too
expensive for general purpose widespread use, but it is appropriate
and probably cost-effective for areas such as airports and high
population density planned cities.
- Jed
