Self-driving cars.... fail

Started by Hoofer, March 31, 2016, 10:06:15 AM

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Hoofer

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-autonomous-infrastructure-insig-idUSKCN0WX131

Interesting little clip, if you've wondered, "How do they know where the lane is, to stay on the road?"

Common problems include:

a.  poorly marked roads, it the car's sensors can't define the roadway, it has a major problem.
b.  Snow on the road.
c.  Rain or any moisture (!)

The self-driving car / OTR semi-truck isn't going to happen soon.  Truckers, you all can relax & drive safely, please.
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

kit saginaw

A lot of driverless cars were getting rear-ended because someone on the sidewalk or side-of-the-road appeared to step toward the road...   And the car braked.  Ridiculous. 

Panhandlers in San Fran are probably wetting themselves over the prospect... when they're not wetting on monuments, parking-meters, or each other.

And to all carjackers and prison-escapees...  C'mon out... !

quiller

Yesterday on NPR was an interview with a specialist in this, who says these cars reach an intersection and stop, waiting for the other car to proceed. If no car moves, it STAYS there. Additionally, nobody's got good plans to accommodate pedestrians. They're not in the plan at all, he claimed. WEMU-FM carried this roughly around the noon hour: haven't got a solid link.

Late-For-Lunch

#3
And of course nobody has figured in the human factor such as vandals, pranksters, thieves, hijackers and terrorists.
Unless we are to believe that driverless car computers will be the first to have 100% hacker-proof security (heh right) that means hackers or people who pay for hacking devices/software will be able to steal these cars and/or appropriate them for nefarious things, possibly even terrorist car-bombings, murder for profit and other "perfect crimes". Since no human beings need be present when the crimes take place, even if you catch a suspect, HOW DO YOU PROVE IT WAS THEY who caused it??? If they torch or otherwise obliterate the vehicle after the crime, all that may be proven is that someone of undetermined ID sent a command signal to a robotic device and it executed a command. Anybody could have pushed the "send" command.

And what of pranksters?. Since it will soon become common knowledge that all a person has to do to get these cars to stop is jump in front of them or hem them in from all sides, a group of kids could do just that, then attach a high-voltage current to the chassis (I presume that they will be made of metal) burn out the electronics (including any tracking device like LoJack), then have someone tow the vehicle someplace to remove the e-control and you now have a car for the cost of a tow, installing a new electric harness and some fuses. 

Even if high voltage current might not kill a LoJack, it would likely burn out the control electronics and make it a dead weight for towing in some sort of trailer with RF signal blockage so the LoJack would be quashed. The potential for mischief and foul play is as limitless as the human imagination - and there are a lot of smart, bored teenagers in the world with a lot of time on their hands.

I guess it makes sense that people would believe that safe driverless cars are realistic in a world where a significant percentage of the population believes that human beings can (should) control the climatic temperature like a thermostat. (cuckoo clock sounds)
Get Out of the Way and Leave Me Alone (Nods to General Teebone)

supsalemgr

Having been in the insurance industry for my entire career some questions quickly came to mind. If one of these cars is liable in an auto crash. Who is liable, the owner, the manufacturer or the dealership who sold the car. I can see plaintiff attorneys doing high fives all over the country. They would love to be able to go after the deep pockets of the manufacturer rather than the owner who may have only $500,000 in coverage. In their world the more people to sue the better chance of a big payday.
"If you can't run with the big dawgs, stay on the porch!"

Solar

Freeways would be cool, especially in an RV, but side streets, no way, not when some thug sees you not paying attention.
Soooo much could go wrong...
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Late-For-Lunch

No doubt all of the above concerns will be "thoroughly studied and addressed," which is gummint-speak and Libberish for, "dismissed out-of-hand because there's money to be made here, gentlemen". To them we are cash and tax cattle. We are to moo and make no other sound.

Get Out of the Way and Leave Me Alone (Nods to General Teebone)