• Google’s Self-Driving Cars Are Ready for the Road.
    131 replies, posted
[QUOTE] Google has been testing self-driving car technology on American roads for six years now, with mostly encouraging results. Until now, however, it has used specially outfitted versions of mass-production cars like the Toyota Prius and Lexus RX450h. On Friday, the company announced that it is ready to put its own, custom-built, fully self-driving cars on public streets for the first time. Yes, those cute little Koala-mobiles are apparently road-ready, just a year after Google introduced them to the world. They’ll start out by tooling around the intimately familiar Mountain View, California, roadways that Google’s self-driving Lexuses have been cruising—and painstakingly mapping—for the past couple of years. Google’s prototypes are designed to be not just self-driving, but fully driverless: They have no steering wheel, brakes, or gas pedal, just a button you push to start the ride. As you can see in the video below, they’re designed to be capable of completing their journey without anyone in the driver’s seat at all. Unfortunately for Google, California’s self-driving car law doesn’t allow that. It requires all autonomous vehicles to be street legal and to have a human behind the wheel. So, for the time being, Google says it will outfit its robotic Totoros-on-wheels with a removable steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedal so that the person in the driver’s seat can take over at a moment’s notice. It will also cap their speed at 25 mph, making it unlikely that anyone will die even on the off chance that they accidentally mow someone down. (For the record, while Google’s self-driving cars have been involved in a handful of minor accidents over the years, Google says not once has its autonomous driving system been at fault.) What’s interesting about all this is that Google doesn’t really believe that putting a human behind the wheel makes its self-driving cars safer. It’s happy to comply with California’s law for now, of course, while it’s still developing the technology and mapping the terrain. But in the long run the Googlers behind the self-driving car project are convinced that driving will be safer once humans are removed from the equation altogether. [/QUOTE] [url]http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/05/15/google_self_driving_car_prototypes_why_you_won_t_see_them_on_your_street.html[/url]
I wonder how long it will take before the first family pet is killed by one of these.
[quote] It will also cap their speed at 25 mph[/quote] Im sure the people following these cars are going to be in the greatest mood.
[QUOTE=Cmx;47731295]Im sure the people following these cars are going to be in the greatest mood.[/QUOTE] most places over here are 50km/h or 60km/h on most roads, so it's not -that- much different unless you go on a freeway/highway then well, depending on where you're going, traffic will cause a jam anyway
[quote]Google’s prototypes are designed to be not just self-driving, but fully driverless: [B]They have no steering wheel, brakes, or gas pedal, just a button you push to start the ride[/B]. As you can see in the video below, they’re designed to be capable of completing their journey without anyone in the driver’s seat at all.[/quote] But how do you activate manual override in-case the car has a deathwish?
Makes me wonder how it will cope with shittier roads and weather. Worn-off striping, potholes, bad rain/fog... I doubt California roads are the best roads for really stress-testing its abilities. [QUOTE=Covalent;47731334]most places over here are 50km/h or 60km/h on most roads, so it's not -that- much different unless you go on a freeway/highway then well, depending on where you're going, traffic will cause a jam anyway[/QUOTE] In the States, it's 30-35 mph in the city & 40-55 mph on larger roads throughout. 25 mph is residential neighborhood speed.
[QUOTE=code_gs;47731342]But how do you activate manual override in-case the car has a deathwish?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Unfortunately for Google, California’s self-driving car law doesn’t allow that. It requires all autonomous vehicles to be street legal and to have a human behind the wheel. So, for the time being, Google says it will outfit its robotic Totoros-on-wheels with a removable steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedal so that the person in the driver’s seat can take over at a moment’s notice. [/QUOTE] by reading the next paragraph
[QUOTE=code_gs;47731342]But how do you activate manual override in-case the car has a deathwish?[/QUOTE] [quote]for the time being, Google says it will outfit its robotic Totoros-on-wheels with a removable steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedal so that the person in the driver’s seat can take over at a moment’s notice.[/quote] I presume they're designing them for a no-manual drivers future.
[QUOTE=Covalent;47731334]most places over here are 50km/h or 60km/h on most roads, so it's not -that- much different unless you go on a freeway/highway then well, depending on where you're going, traffic will cause a jam anyway[/QUOTE] Not that much different? That's half the speed limit.
Damn, ninja'd. [editline]15th May 2015[/editline] Fuck.
[QUOTE=code_gs;47731342]But how do you activate manual override in-case the car has a deathwish?[/QUOTE] There is no "just in case" because they want people to know that these cars are so reliable that they will never have to be manually operated. I just want to know what these cars do when they're looking for parking in a garage or a parking lot. At what point do they decide there are no empty spots
[QUOTE=MightyLOLZOR;47731292]I wonder how long it will take before the first family pet is killed by one of these.[/QUOTE] Is there any reason to think that this would happen any more than it does already?
[QUOTE=Dr.C;47731367] I just want to know what these cars do when they're looking for parking in a garage or a parking lot. At what point do they decide there are no empty spots[/QUOTE] I've been wondering this too, what about complex parking lots in malls, how the hell would this know how to park in every establishment's parking lot?
[QUOTE=code_gs;47731342]But how do you activate manual override in-case the car has a deathwish?[/QUOTE] You'll have to initiate an IP hack on the mainframe to crack the backdoor and upload a trojan virus that will short circuit the processing banks to reset the guidance system so you can perform the manual override on the CPU. Then Ludacris will fist bump you and invite you to join the Fast 8 crew.
[QUOTE=code_gs;47731342]But how do you activate manual override in-case the car has a deathwish?[/QUOTE] You either unbuckle and fly out the door, or pray that you survive intact.
Whoa, we are still a long ways away from people accepting cars that lack a manual control option. Not sure why they would want their initial production run to go that route.
I'd buy one in a heart beat. But 25 mph? Wow. Roads are here are 45 mph by default.
As much as I love the concept, it looks absolutely AWFUL maybe it would fit in in Japan or something, but it looks way too cutesy to do well in the US. [t]http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/future_tense/2015/05/15/google_self_driving_car_prototypes_why_you_won_t_see_them_on_your_street/google_driverless_small.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg[/t] [editline]15th May 2015[/editline] a fucking smart car looks more aggressive than this thing
It'd be great. You can just get your kids to fuck off to school without getting up or interacting with them in any way. And with the low top speed, they can bail out if a semi comes at them.
[QUOTE=Timebomb575;47731619]As much as I love the concept, it looks absolutely AWFUL maybe it would fit in in Japan or something, but it looks way too cutesy to do well in the US.[/QUOTE] People in Silicon Valley and various parts of SoCal are totally used to this type of wussymobile design, I'm sure it'll be fine.
[QUOTE=Covalent;47731334]most places over here are 50km/h or 60km/h on most roads, so it's not -that- much different unless you go on a freeway/highway then well, depending on where you're going, traffic will cause a jam anyway[/QUOTE] All it takes is one car going slower than everyone else to create traffic congestion.
[QUOTE=Covalent;47731334]most places over here are 50km/h or 60km/h on most roads, so it's not -that- much different unless you go on a freeway/highway then well, depending on where you're going, traffic will cause a jam anyway[/QUOTE] But do people follow the 50-60km/h limit to the letter?
[QUOTE=Timebomb575;47731619]As much as I love the concept, it looks absolutely AWFUL maybe it would fit in in Japan or something, but it looks way too cutesy to do well in the US. [t]http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/future_tense/2015/05/15/google_self_driving_car_prototypes_why_you_won_t_see_them_on_your_street/google_driverless_small.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg[/t] [editline]15th May 2015[/editline] a fucking smart car looks more aggressive than this thing[/QUOTE] Doesn't matter, it's a very early step into this tech. When it becomes mainstream you'll see regular looking cars using the tech. Early adopters always have to deal with these sort of things.
[QUOTE=DChapsfield;47731463]You'll have to initiate an IP hack on the mainframe to crack the backdoor and upload a trojan virus that will short circuit the processing banks to reset the guidance system so you can perform the manual override on the CPU. Then Ludacris will fist bump you and invite you to join the Fast 8 crew.[/QUOTE] Or you could just do a GUI interface with visualbasic
[QUOTE=Timebomb575;47731619]As much as I love the concept, it looks absolutely AWFUL maybe it would fit in in Japan or something, but it looks way too cutesy to do well in the US. [t]http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/future_tense/2015/05/15/google_self_driving_car_prototypes_why_you_won_t_see_them_on_your_street/google_driverless_small.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg[/t] [editline]15th May 2015[/editline] a fucking smart car looks more aggressive than this thing[/QUOTE] It's just a testbed for the technology, it's not meant to be a production car
[QUOTE=Timebomb575;47731619]As much as I love the concept, it looks absolutely AWFUL maybe it would fit in in Japan or something, but it looks way too cutesy to do well in the US. [t]http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/future_tense/2015/05/15/google_self_driving_car_prototypes_why_you_won_t_see_them_on_your_street/google_driverless_small.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg[/t] [editline]15th May 2015[/editline] a fucking smart car looks more aggressive than this thing[/QUOTE] Why does a car need to look "aggressive"?
[QUOTE=SIRIUS;47731787]Why does a car need to look "aggressive"?[/QUOTE] To compensate for the driver
[QUOTE=SIRIUS;47731787]Why does a car need to look "aggressive"?[/QUOTE] I think once driverless cars become more common place, car design will lose all the aggressive tendencies and go towards a luxury look. What car can look the most luxurious and expensive, because power and sportiness won't matter any more.
The 25mph cap just seems too low. That's school zone speed when the lights are flashing. And even SOME school zones are 30mph. I'd say raise the cap to 30.
[QUOTE=Timebomb575;47731619]As much as I love the concept, it looks absolutely AWFUL maybe it would fit in in Japan or something, but it looks way too cutesy to do well in the US. [t]http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/future_tense/2015/05/15/google_self_driving_car_prototypes_why_you_won_t_see_them_on_your_street/google_driverless_small.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg[/t] [editline]15th May 2015[/editline] a fucking smart car looks more aggressive than this thing[/QUOTE] Oh my god it has a little nose and rosey cheeks and everything
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