Thread: Autonomous Vehicles

Originally Posted by trog

I can imagine the operation / owners manual would be a complex read. It would likely have to be dumbed down enough to suit the lower end of the intended marketing demographics.

I reckon it'll just say "Please fasten your seatbelt".

Or the hacked sports version will say "Get in, sit down, shut up and hang on!"

Autonomous vehicles should benefit from improved GPS accuracy, which could fall from five metres to 10 centimetres.

Cruise ships testing a 'Google Maps' for the sea
'Google Maps' for the sea: Cruise ship testing new satellite system - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Another little expected advantage of owning an autonomous vehicle: you can send it out to get something for you while you're busy.

Hungry and don't want to miss the cricket? Send the car down to the drive through and buy some nosh. Video displays take care of the interaction.

Doing an important job and you're about to run out of screws? Send the ute down to the hardware and get a few things while you keep the apprentice busy.

Want to ride your treadly to a downhill/downwind destination but not back again? Send the car ahead to wait for you.

Soon everyone will want one, just for the convenience.

Already done in country towns if you are a "Local"

For some reason in Wagga you could hear both sides of a two way conversation in taxis.

I was taking a taxi to the airport one morning to overhear some locals getting a taxi to go to the bottlo to get them some slabs and flagons.
Seemed like a common occurrence so who needs autonomous vehicles.LOL

Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by vnx205

Not so different from a driving aid that a lot of people now take for granted.

Does anyone use their cruise control 100% of the time?

I don't own a vehicle fitted with one, but I would have thought that most people use them when they are on the open road, but still need to apply their foot to the accelerator, brake and possibly clutch when they are driving into their garage or negotiating the supermarket carpark.

Some of the people I know speak very highly of he advantages of having cruise control, but there are times it doesn't help and needs to be turned off or overridden.

Surely a similar attitude to autonomous vehicles would be sensible. There are times and places where it will be useful and there are times and places where it would be madness to expect it to cope.

Autonomous is entirely different from cruise control. Cruise control only works of course because the driver is still paying full attention. ...but yes this is the most likely outcome sometime in the future. There may be some zones that enable autonomous. It would be very handy in a stop start city grid situation. But anywhere on the open road with all variables and unpredictability I doubt it’s possible. ...the sight of a road train coming towards you with no driver, it’s computer making constant judgements as to the ‘value’ of ‘obstacles’ in the way - in comparison to its payload is a horrific thought. There’s no way I’d be taking my hands off the wheel!

I was just thinking about the cruise control comparison.

I know that the new you beaut radar cruise controls stay a safe distance behind the car in front.

So If the car in front slows down or someone overtakes you and then pulls in front and slows down you slow down also.

I just wonder how an autonomous vehicle would make the decision to change lanes and overtake the slow vehicle?

All I know is that on Sydney's M1 you could have a very slow journey if you did not make decisions all the time to change lanes to get past slow vehicles.

If the driver had to intervene all the time there would be no point in autonomy.
Regards Philip A

Might be food for thought for those talking about the driver taking over, that some autonomous vehicle proponents, including, I think, Uber, are planning vehicles with no driver controls.

I think there might be legal reasons why manufacturers might be reluctant to remove operator controls from autonomous vehicles. The companies might try to protect themselves from being sued after an accident by saying it was operator error because the human failed to intervene to prevent the crash. Already it seems Uber might be trying to shift the blame for that fatality to the driver by allowing his criminal record to be published. So, having driver override controls might shift the legal liability from manufacturer to operator.
This is already a common defence with other machinery accidents. If I cut my leg off with a circular saw the company's lawyers would say it was operator error and the manufacturer is not liable. Same argument could be applied to autonomous vehicles with manual override controls.