Volvo Self Driving Car... Fail

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Igster

No, no, no...a REAL Government mandated and operated test. Not Joe's Driving Academy where the 3rd time you take the test we guarantee you'll pass!

What will you do when you fail the test?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

With driving cars, you would no longer need big engine options or things of that nature. Primary just comfort items would be options, such as leather vs cloth. This will no doubt remove the complexity of car manufacturing. Will style even matter at that point, if everyone is driving at the same pace like robots, with their head down in their tablet/book reader? So if cars turn more generic, will the industry be decimated?

Evolve or die.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Evolve or die.

But they should have died long ago, but are protected due to the impact anything negative would have.

[DoubleF]

I like the idea of a self driving car because I might not need to use cabs anymore after drinks or in a foreign city. I assume the next step in self driving cars is a hive mind to keep "safe" as many people as possible. One car in accident, ping other cars to take alternate routes, slow down/go around etc. Hive mind would also be great for cars to have fast lanes that just go insanely fast and cars entering and exiting with little fear of accidents (ie: Lane change at fast speeds within inches of each other without being considered "cutting off" someone).

Now, for me, self driving cars would also make me wonder whether ownership of cars is even necessary anymore. Buy a membership/lease and grab a car or request a car type (pod vs multi pod vs transport size) and it drives to your place or to meet you. Kinda similar to car to go or a car rental company or something in between. Heck think of the parking space saved since you don't need gaps in between cars to open doors. OMG think of all the valets that lose their jobs! EVIL! But then again, imagine going to work and the car drives itself to the mechanic/is replaced by a no problem car? OMG think of all the exercise lost since we won't have to walk as far to cars!

I would expect to see self "driving" in commercial vehicles first. Especially trains on tracks. After that transit, semis and then perhaps commercial level products. I don't think driving will ever completely die out, but perhaps it might not be considered a skill necessary essentially for life survival. Think... a horse. Horses didn't completely disappear after their use for travel was rendered "obsolete". It just became a hobbyist activity. The activity itself didn't just disappear.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by polak

I am curious as to what the plan would be if there was some sort of catastrophic failure with the computer and sensors that drive the car?

Say we replace all of deerfoot traffic with self-driving cars. It only takes one failure in one car to cause a big accident. Are we going to expect people to be paying attention at all times and take over? That's not going to happen. Hell first thing I do with my self driving car is go pub hopping!

How is that different than now?
As it stands right now you've got 100% of cars being controlled by people with slower reaction times than a computer controlled car.

I computer controlled car breaks and gets in an accident, the other 99.99% react more quickly than a person would and the severity of the accident/delay is greatly reduced. That's the point of self driving cars, they are better at avoiding accidents than we are.

[Igster]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

What will you do when you fail the test?

Get the most kick-ass self driving car there is!

[polak]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

How is that different than now?
As it stands right now you've got 100% of cars being controlled by people with slower reaction times than a computer controlled car.

I computer controlled car breaks and gets in an accident, the other 99.99% react more quickly than a person would and the severity of the accident/delay is greatly reduced. That's the point of self driving cars, they are better at avoiding accidents than we are.

Computers are only better at avoiding accidents than we are if they're working.

I'll give you a million dollars if you can find me a computer that hasn't ever glitched or frozen.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by polak

Also how will a computer react when an accident is guaranteed?

I know if I was about crash into a pole or hit a bunch of kids on the sidewalk, I'll hit the pole....

Would you?

Let's assume that you hitting the kids would kill 3 kids. Hitting the pole kills you.

What do you do?

And yes, these are uncomfortable "what ifs" that need to be addressed when programming the car. But you have to realize that humans make the exact same decisions every day. It's just more uncomfortable when it's immortalized in code.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by polak

Computers are only better at avoiding accidents than we are if they're working.

I'll give you a million dollars if you can find me a computer that hasn't ever glitched or frozen.

I'll give you a billion dollars if you can find me a human that has never made a mistake.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Regorium

Would you?

Let's assume that you hitting the kids would kill 3 kids. Hitting the pole kills you.

What do you do?

And yes, these are uncomfortable "what ifs" that need to be addressed when programming the car. But you have to realize that humans make the exact same decisions every day. It's just more uncomfortable when it's immortalized in code.

I'd like to think I would. I agree. It's going to be an awkward discussion.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I keep thinking of one aspect. What will happen to the big car manufacturers?

With driving cars, you would no longer need big engine options or things of that nature. Primary just comfort items would be options, such as leather vs cloth. This will no doubt remove the complexity of car manufacturing. Will style even matter at that point, if everyone is driving at the same pace like robots, with their head down in their tablet/book reader? So if cars turn more generic, will the industry be decimated?

Build cars and refurbish them? Build cars that don't last as long and are returned to the factory every few years?

I would expect car ownership to plummet, but membership/leasing business plans to sky rocket. A self driving car almost essentially mimics a bus usage wise for commute at that given point.

kinda like car to go, but choose whatever car in the fleet you want at any given time. (Or more likely... pod)

[Caged Great]

I personally hate driving, so this technology can't come fast enough.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I keep thinking of one aspect. What will happen to the big car manufacturers?

With driving cars, you would no longer need big engine options or things of that nature. Primary just comfort items would be options, such as leather vs cloth. This will no doubt remove the complexity of car manufacturing. Will style even matter at that point, if everyone is driving at the same pace like robots, with their head down in their tablet/book reader? So if cars turn more generic, will the industry be decimated?

I think the better question is if it will make sense for the average person to even own a car anymore?

I can see a system where you can summon with your phone/watch/glasses/etc the nearest available self driving car to pick you up and tell it where to go.

A company can most likely offer a rate to use their cars a lot cheaper than it would be to use your own car (including fuel, insurance, maintenance and the original cost of the car) assuming the company gets high utilization out of the cars at any given time.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Regorium

I'll give you a billion dollars if you can find me a human that has never made a mistake.

Jesus?

Jokes aside, I think there will be a weird transition period when human and self driving co-exist. But if you imagine all cars being self driving and sensors up the wazoo, I don't think you would ever run into the situation where the vehicle was too fast and had to make an ethical decision. I honestly think self driving and humans would be separated in different roads and lanes in that middle maturation period.

Worst case scenario, there should always be ejector seats with parachute. Both you and kids survive. Pole and car, not so much. You wouldn't even know there was a decision made as the computer would just launch you and you'd realize it when you're flying through the air.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by polak

Computers are only better at avoiding accidents than we are if they're working.

I'll give you a million dollars if you can find me a computer that hasn't ever glitched or frozen.

And I'll give you a billion dollars if you can find me a person who has never been distracted, tired, made an error in judgement, failed to see something in plain view, or is just a plain old crappy driver.

No one is saying self driving cars will be 100% accident free, but I can guarantee that in short order we'll be able to produce something that will reduce car accidents to a pretty rare occurance.

Oh, and on a side note, I've got a 15 year old calculator, a computer, simple as it may be, that has never glitched, or frozen on me. You can make that cheque out to Mr. Bring_Back_Shantz.

[polak]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

I think the better question is if it will make sense for the average person to even own a car anymore?

I can see a system where you can summon with your phone/watch/glasses/etc the nearest available self driving car to pick you up and tell it where to go.

A company can most likely offer a rate to use their cars a lot cheaper than it would be to use your own car (including fuel, insurance, maintenance and the original cost of the car) assuming the company gets high utilization out of the cars at any given time.

Can't see how it would be all that much cheaper than rental cars for long distance now?

[AcGold]

Hey that's fine if you want to try it, I don't care as long as it's not mandatory. If it is then I'll care.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by polak

Can't see how it would be all that cheaper than rental cars for long distance now?

It's like leasing a car but also similar to rental of car. Choose what you want for the contract period, borrow a different one if you want. It would be a completely different experience than we have now with cars.

There's no way a self driving hive mind of pods aren't electric. "Fuel" wouldn't be that great of a cost (assuming renewable energy). Vehicles would also be mass produced. Economies of scale could mean cheaper car. Also, shipping. On a network, a produced car just drives and charges on that network on its own rather than as much storing and semis with 18 cars on them. Shipping prices could dramatically fall.

For long distance, I could imagine you swap vehicles every few cities/towns for a vehicle that isn't out of power.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Hey that's fine if you want to try it, I don't care as long as it's not mandatory. If it is then I'll care.

I could imagine it being mandatory for people over the age of like 80 or with health conditions that don't allow them to drive (ie: Seizures)

But to your comment, I agree. If everyone in the entire driving population had to do auto driving car, I'd be mad too.

[ernie]

I only had the pedestrian detection system kick in once in my s-60 r-design. It saved a kid from very serious injury. I was driving along a city road when skateboard kid decides to do a trick on the sidewalk, fail and end up right in the path of my car. I know I would not have stopped in time on my own. The car did. That right there was worth every penny of the upgrade.