• Uber rolling out autonomous cars in Pittsburgh
    33 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Megadave;50962939]As long as we can solar flare proof this shit I'm all for it. The thought of having everything run by machines is interesting and probably necessary, but it still scares the shit out of me.[/QUOTE] Even current vehicles aren't solar flare proof because all the stuff that drills for oil, transports oil, and delivers oil to your car is all managed by computers.
[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;50963463]we probably can't. our current electrical grid is woefully unprotected and i don't see that changing anytime soon. most of this automated driving will rely heavily on gps satellites, of which we have about 24 in orbit and are quite vulnerable. a solar flare taking out even six of them would cause mass disruption on the ground nowadays, let alone when automation begins taking hold. [editline]28th August 2016[/editline] it would probably take a minor solar flare causing temporary disruption on the ground to light a fire underneath legislators to enact laws that require utility companies to rebuild infrastructure to be flare resistant as well as the military to R&D solar flare resistant GPS satellites (they need an update anyways) to launch into space.[/QUOTE] Making spacecraft solar flare resistant is tough, as a flare severe enough to fuck your spacecraft is pretty huge. Ablated solar panels, hundreds of amps induced on internal/external traces, ballooning thermosphere is like hitting a wall of air, comms out for hours, etc
I love autonomous vehicles but I'd honestly rather have a person driving an Uber or cab, just because the address isn't always clear and I usually have to explain where exactly to get dropped off. I couldn't do that with an autonomous vehicle.
[QUOTE=Matt2468rv;50968374]I love autonomous vehicles but I'd honestly rather have a person driving an Uber or cab, just because the address isn't always clear and I usually have to explain where exactly to get dropped off. I couldn't do that with an autonomous vehicle.[/QUOTE] Drop a pin on a map?
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