Thread: Autonomous Vehicles

Cyclists and pedestrians are truly autonomous road users already.

There is currently no such thing as an autonomous vehicle.

....If there ever is, I too hope it’s decades away. But I suspect it’s only going to be a few years and they will be rushed in by corporations looking to cut costs. After all there is no shortage of corporations unconcerned about their products effect on human health and autonomy already.

That’s partly the problem - pedestrians being “road users” whilst vehicles aren’t allowed to be “footpath users”.

On site we simply segregate these...
- Heavy SME
- LVs
- Foot traffic

There are procedures and locations for interaction, not random step out from kerb type behaviours.


Autonomous rail, air and shipping will be first in theory as they deal with much more regimental behaviour.

A significant characteristic of human autonomy is unpredictability. Infact it’s the freedom we all cherish and a defining aspect of autonomy in general.

Which is also why progressive machine learning is such a big deal and why autonomous machines are so difficult to program.

I can see trains being OK on controlled routes. I can also see buses being OK on busway, as in Brisbane, where they are the only traffic. But roads are uncontrolled and it's an unpredictable environment. In a congested city like Bangkok, I can imagine an auto vehicle continually stopping because of other vehicles. Eventually it would probably be squashed by a bus or truck with a driver with a 'get outta my way' attitude.

Autonomous trains are now being used in the Pilbara.

Autonomous trucks have also been used on some mine sites for quite a while.

Agree with others,autonomous cars,trucks,buses,etc on our roads mixed with other vehicles,cyclists,pedestrians,animals,etc is a long,long way off.

i saw a program about autonomous harvesters in the USA a while ago.Their biggest issue was the machine trying to work out the difference between a small animal,and a child.

is there a difference?

Originally Posted by Eevo

is there a difference?

A lot less bad publicity if a fox goes through a header!

Let’s not forget what could be the greatest tragic impact coming from the rise of the autonomous vehicle: more dodgy beer diluting songs...


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