Shop Learn
Google's Self-Driving Cars: Fun Facts - Page 2 — Parallax Forums

Google's Self-Driving Cars: Fun Facts



  • ercoerco Posts: 19,958
  • I agree.
  • ercoerco Posts: 19,958
    Even dinosaurs like self-driving cars.

  • Heater. wrote: »
    I do believe the human race has gone insane.

    What! You must be mad!
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,233
    I always suspected that.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,233
    Now I realize, I am not mad, it's the Dutch.

  • ercoerco Posts: 19,958
    Food for thought. For futurists anyway.

  • How this will work out one can see every morning at schools. All children arrive in there parent driven cars at the same time.

    It is almost like a war zone, And even if the car is self driving, it has to be somewhere. So either the car is driving around on the road all day while you are working, or it has to sit on a parking space.

    Self driving cars are not the solution, working public transport is way more efficient.

  • ercoerco Posts: 19,958
    The guy also glosses over rush hour traffic. "Cars are unused for 95% of the day" may be true, but it's not evenly or logically distributed through a 24-hour day. Much of that 5% drive time is rush hour with everyone on the road together. As long as most of us are working 9 to 5 and sleeping 11p-7a, congestion will prevail.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,692
    @msrobots & erco

    You both have valid points, however self driving cars could still be a significant part of the solution to traffic congestion and parking lot sprawl, particularly if the cars were integrated with the mass transit system.

    For kids that need to be dropped off at school each car could hold a minimum of 4, which would reduce the number of vehicles, and with sensible programming the cars would avoid the chaos created by ditzy, inattentive, inconsiderate drivers that seem to be growing in numbers.

    For adults going to work same thing goes. The cars can pick people up and drop them off at work or a mass transit station.

    The mass transit stations could provide much of the parking space required, and because the vehicles could be lined up bumper to bumper and accessed like a FIFO, they would need much less space than today's typical parking lot.
  • @kwinn you are assuming public owned and shared vehicles.

    This is not going to happen. Right now people could share their rides, but very seldom do carpools. Same will happen with self driving cars, who buys a Tesla and shares it with other people?

  • In NYC the mass transit system behaves as if it is indeed self driven. This includes the buses, (especially the select bus service), and certain subway lines.

    Besides given the fact that there's always a big mess in the streets causing delays, certain specialize in being very late between 2PM and 7PM week days.
  • evanhevanh Posts: 11,279
    Automated public transport will likely become more modular, so it can pickup and deliver individuals at many more locations. Maybe even door to door eventually - Although this final step demands much more from the software.

    If it does go that far then both taxis and ride-sharing will be distant memories.

    Intercity travel ... dunno, probably stays as large long-haul vehicles.

  • evanhevanh Posts: 11,279
    PS: That provides the basics for cheap day-to-day commuting.

    Beyond that, I still see personal, drivable, vehicles being desirable to most. The "autopilot" will always have its weaknesses that needs a real driver to extricate it.

  • ercoerco Posts: 19,958
    When I'm on the freeway, I look at these giant 18 wheeler trucks. I wonder, if he towed me, he'd hardly notice. I could completely shut off my inefficient gas engine, and save all that gas. I'd bet his consumption increase costs would be far less than my car would burn. Extrapolating that out, make a road train. One big truck pulling a string of 20 cars in neutral. Wouldn't that be much more efficient? Talk about ridesharing...
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,692
    msrobots wrote: »
    @kwinn you are assuming public owned and shared vehicles.



    Perhaps I am a bit of an optimist, but it seems to me that once self driving cars are a reality purchasing one or more self driving cars to provide transportation services would be a viable business. I suspect that even cab companies would have to go that route.
  • ercoerco Posts: 19,958
    "Super Hacker George Hotz" is certainly an energetic and engaging fellow, hot on the trail (and eager to deliver) AI, self-driving cars. Much less reserved than Elon.

  • ercoerco Posts: 19,958
    On George Hotz: "the young wascaw has spiwit!"
  • George Hotz has bigger plans. His approach to autonomous cars is intended to be a stepping stone toward artificial general intelligence, which is probably a necessary endgame anyway for the cars to be practical.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,007
    I think that self driving cars will solve a lot of problems.

    The first is stress. Road rage will be eliminated for those in self driving cars. Self driving cars won't tailgate, they don't have a "me first" attitude. You can be sure that you will always be able to merge or change lanes safely. They won't be zig zagging through traffic trying to get somewhere 30 seconds faster and you the passenger will be able to catch up on some reading, work or take a nap while on your way - or stare at your phone which is what it seems most people want to do.

    You will be safer. No doubt there will be some accidents but they will be far rarer than human operated vehicle accidents.

    Parking will not be a problem. The car can go drive to a parking garage miles away if necessary. Less expensive parking garages on the outskirts will pop up just for that purpose.

    Congestion will be reduced significantly. Nearly everyone follows a schedule, if the network of self driving cars know the schedule then they can adjust for it. Adjusting travel times by a minute or two will have huge effects on congestion if all the vehicles are working together.

    Many more people will be using services like Uber rather than purchasing their own vehicles. Even those that own vehicles will opt for those services.

    The fear of being hacked will always be there, even now there are many vehicles that have that vulnerability.
  • [quote="W9GFO;1442036".

    "The fear of being hacked will always be there, ..."

    That goes without saying. You are putting your life into the control of something designed, built and programmed by humans.

    Anyone knowledgeable of such things also knows how Big Brother likes to have a backdoor built into such things. Often the 'backdoor' is the easiest and surest door to pick.


    Being paranoid and delusional does not necessarily mean they are not out to get me.

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,233
    I think watching self driving cars trying to get to this location, by a lake, deep in the forest of Finland, at the end of a long winding track, in winter time, might be as entertaining as watching the ED 209 fall down the stairs whilst trying to keep up with Robocop.

Sign In or Register to comment.