Self-Driving cars?

[ga0358]

Would you ever consider this? Not me, could you imagine just SITTING in your Camaro and not DRIVING??



http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/06...tories+2%29%29

[Dooley]

No

[BiG_TiMe]

dude that's awesome, i would finally be able to sleep in my own car while it's being driven

[Dooley]

I guess maybe if I get to drink beer while the car is driving.

[1BADLS3]

I'm not interested, but that's because driving is a hobby/sport for me. I think we're a ways off from having fully automated vehicles in mass production.

I do think some of the adaptive technology is cool, but all the problems those technologies attempt to solve are easily avoided if you're paying attention and taking the road ahead (or behind) seriously.

[Jason@JacFab]

I can just see the DUI pull over conversations now... "But officer, I'm not driving, the car is!"

[proj3ktpat]

Definitely. Imagine how much better transportation will be when we finally have fully autonomous cars. No more traffic jams, red lights, car wrecks (aside from freak accidents) etc. You would get wherever you want to go so much quicker, be extremely comfortable doing so (assuming they eventually remove all driver controls and whatnot), and wouldn't have to worry about drunk driving. I hope we have the technology before I get too old, but I feel like it's still a long way off before we can just get in our car and say, "take me ____."

I do love driving, but I that will just have to be limited to driving on the track. It's not really a bad trade off since driving on the track is the most fun anyway.

[ZED SLED]

This all started in 1940 with the introduction of the automatic transmission in an Oldsmobile. I believe a big argument started on a party line forum when it 'walked' a '3 on the tree' in the quarter.

[CamaroSkooter]

Originally Posted by proj3ktpat

Definitely. Imagine how much better transportation will be when we finally have fully autonomous cars. No more traffic jams, red lights, car wrecks (aside from freak accidents) etc. You would get wherever you want to go so much quicker, be extremely comfortable doing so (assuming they eventually remove all driver controls and whatnot), and wouldn't have to worry about drunk driving. I hope we have the technology before I get too old, but I feel like it's still a long way off before we can just get in our car and say, "take me ____."

I do love driving, but I that will just have to be limited to driving on the track. It's not really a bad trade off since driving on the track is the most fun anyway.

Until roadways are completely isolated from any environmental interference, this will just be a pipe dream. As long as wild animals (and even domesticated animals that have gotten out of the yard/house) can and will have access to run across the roadways whenever they feel like it, autonomous vehicles will continue to just be a gimmick.

If the government were serious about this kind of technology, they would start creating standards right now outlining roadway construction practices to include laying wiring down in the concrete or asphalt paving that would run along/beneath the lane dividing paint to identify to cars where the limits of the lane are (think dog collar boundary wires).

Right now, the gimmick technology that's in cars right now relies on radar to determine how close it is to another vehicle. And the article points out the issues with that. One being that the technology relies on line of sight - meaning if there's a decent curve in the road, the technology can "lose sight" of the vehicle in front of it. Another being that if it's raining too hard, the vehicle can't "see" the lane dividers and will wander out of the lane.

And don't even get me started on how the technology standards would have to be created at the federal level so that the states all implement the same standards so that interstate travel wouldn't be affected.

There are a lot of domino's that would have to fall in line to have a truly autonomous mode of driving available in a vehicle. The concept is absolutely sound, but the implementation would be a major PITA.

[daveagogo1]

If it works anything like my POS android phones. The car will drive off a cliff or force close itself everytime i tell it to go or stop.

[CamaroSkooter]

Pshh...the force close on Android phones has more to do with the idiot that programmed the app than it does the operating system of the phone.

[upflying]

Aircraft have had autopilots for years and they still crash.

[JamesNoBrakes]

Originally Posted by upflying

Aircraft have had autopilots for years and they still crash.

That may be, but pilot error is generally the most common factor in aircraft accidents.


At the very least, buicks, mercurys, and large cadillacs need this. Also needs to come with a door sensor that prevents opening the door. If you park too close to the next car, the door won't open. You select auto-park and the car will park evenly in the spot, so the other guy's car doesn't get all messed up.

[FenwickHockey65]

Uhh guys...all this is is upgraded cruise control. The car won't have navigational ability, you'll still have to steer where you want to go. AKA you can't just sleep at the wheel and let the car take care of everything.

It just utilizes sensors and cameras already available for cruise control that control acceleration and braking and adds in a small degree of steering input.