Autonomous Vehicles
- Thread starter adam cool dude
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So how many times have you ever had to get out of a vehicle to move an animal from a road?
How often is this scenario actually going to happen realistically, especially when talking about trucks?
Remember, in Australia (as an example) trucks have large pieces of protective metal (non ironically called bull bars) on the front to protect them from cow strikes so even if, somehow, someone doesn’t wire some code to just drive round the cow the vehicle can just push it out the way...
There’s also the option, if everything else went to pot, that someone in a control room somewhere monitoring all the trucks for the company could remotely take over the vehicle and just drive it round/through the cow. That’s if this scenario was as big an issue as you think it is.
And as for the fuel example, how often does this happen with human drivers, and why would an automated vehicle cope worse than a human driven one.
Ignoring the question of whether flying is considered easier than driving (3D space vs 2D space for example)...
You should have a look at autoland and take off/go around, which do both of those things on many modern commercial airliners. The frequency of their use depends on the airline in questions policies and weather conditions (autoland is used in poor visibility).
You should have a look at autoland and take off/go around, which do both of those things on many modern commercial airliners. The frequency of their use depends on the airline in questions policies and weather conditions (autoland is used in poor visibility).
My point is a person can deal with the unforseen problems that life throws up quickly and efficiently. People can also notice situations and predict what's going to or could happen based on knowing the environment and bit of common sense.
So you've never had to get out of a vehicle and shoo an animal away then. 
The point i'm making is these events can be mitigated just as well/better in the vast majority of cases by an automated vehicle. As more miles are put under automated vehicles belts the more they are likely to be able to deal with them. It's one of the reasons there are hundreds of automated vehicles driving around on public roads, run by multiple companies.
So far you haven't been able to provide a single example that either hasn't already been mitigated, can be mitigated with minor modifications of current technology, or isn't being looked into by multiple companies
Alternatively if something can't be mitigated against (if it's not a safety issue), for the commercial fleet level at least, you could have a remote control option built into the system. A commercial fleet (whether lorries, taxis or other) will have real time telemetry and oversight anyway - many already do, even without automation. One person in an office can control hundreds of vehicles, a job position most fleets normally have already.
The point i'm making is these events can be mitigated just as well/better in the vast majority of cases by an automated vehicle. As more miles are put under automated vehicles belts the more they are likely to be able to deal with them. It's one of the reasons there are hundreds of automated vehicles driving around on public roads, run by multiple companies.
So far you haven't been able to provide a single example that either hasn't already been mitigated, can be mitigated with minor modifications of current technology, or isn't being looked into by multiple companies
Alternatively if something can't be mitigated against (if it's not a safety issue), for the commercial fleet level at least, you could have a remote control option built into the system. A commercial fleet (whether lorries, taxis or other) will have real time telemetry and oversight anyway - many already do, even without automation. One person in an office can control hundreds of vehicles, a job position most fleets normally have already.
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So you've never had to get out of a vehicle and shoo an animal away then.
The point i'm making is these events can be mitigated just as well/better in the vast majority of cases by an automated vehicle. As more miles are put under automated vehicles belts the more they are likely to be able to deal with them. It's one of the reasons there are hundreds of automated vehicles driving around on public roads, run by multiple companies.
So far you haven't been able to provide a single example that either hasn't already been mitigated, can be mitigated with minor modifications of current technology, or isn't being looked into by multiple companies
Alternatively, as above, if it's not a safety issue, something that can't be mitigated on at least the commercial fleet level by having a remote control option built into the system. A commercial fleet (whether lorries, taxis or other) will have real time telemetry and oversight anyway - many already do, even without automation. One person in an office can control hundreds of vehicles, a job position most fleets normally have already.
No, I've had to deal with cattle a few times and seen swans and geese mistake wet roads for water among other weird and wonderful things that would stump a driverless thing.
To be brutally honest if a driverless 40ton artic came across a swan in its path I don't think there'd be too much issue depending on the programming. *splat*
As for cattle. If all else failed, wait a couple of minutes and they usually move on their own, even without the help of a vehicle slowly herding them off the road (which is what I usually do, especially if they're a ton of testosterone fueled wild Bison with foot long horns...)
I don't think you get the point I'm making. OK a road gets washed away an area that has falling rocks.
We don't. The tech already exists to do it. The reason it hasn't been done is that the public won't fly in a plane with no pilot. I saw a poll from a year or so ago and something like 80% of people said they would refuse to fly that way.
What about ice on the road or a child playing with a ball on the side of the road? How does current AI see those?
Both the driver and the automated vehicle stop and find another route round.
What do you think would happen in those scenarios?
The software and cameras would pick it up if visible, if not it would use the various braking and steering systems already available on cars to reduce a chance of skidding/crashing. It would also be checking the exterior temperature to see if there is a chance of ice on the road. Remember, automated systems already save a large number of live in this scenario, and the system doesn't and never will be perfect- it just needs to be better than humans. Currently hundreds/thousands die each year because of these conditions.
As for the child, the various current systems monitor not just the road, but the side of the road too. The pedestrian and animal detection systems work by being "trained" to identify "objects" by shape and movement. You train these systems to understand how kids move and then they can be tracked. The benefit over a human driver is the system can be looking at the child playing, while checking the way is clear in front, checking there is no one overtaking, checking the side road it's coming up to is clear AND monitoring the traffic light in front, all at the same time.
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Both the driver and the automated vehicle stop and find another route round.
What do you think would happen in those scenarios?
So can't see any situation a driverless thing could fail and AI will always find a way.
Interesting.
Deleted member 66701
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Deleted member 66701
It sees (or more accurately 'detects') the ice as ice and adapts it's driving accordingly and it sees the child playing with a ball as a child playing with a ball and adapts it's driving accordingly.
You know, like a human would, only more consistently and quicker.
I can see a situation where the current programming is insufficient to cope with the scenario presented but is resolved by collecting and analysing data and applying a fix.
You know, the same way we've programmed computers for 90 years.
What I can see however is that AI will soon be at the stage where it will make better decisions than a human in 99% of given scenarios and human drivers will be the liability, not the AI.
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Any source for that? Can it differentiate from what is tarmac and what is black ice? What if you are driving in heavy snow what happens if the car gets covered in snow slush could it effect it sensors? I know this is a problem with radar guided cruise control in modern cars. I find it also hard to believe a car at this moment in time could see 100 meters up the road to see a boy playing with a ball at the side of the road.
Deleted member 66701
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Deleted member 66701
No, I'm sure driverless cars will fail occasionally, but those examples are pretty simple things to avoid and unlikely to cause issues the majority of the time. As an example if a Tesla or Volvo on autopilot came across a collapsed road today it would note that it doesn't know where the road is and either alert the driver and/or stop before the obstacle (because they are level 2).
In future it's likely the system would then decide on a new route after not being able to proceed. Alternatively a commercial vehicle could alert the person in the control room who would view the obstruction and take over for a short time/reroute, or the vehicle would consult the passenger in the vehicle who could then tell the vehicle to re route.
Again, these eventualities happen so infrequently they not going to affect 99.999% of journeys. As long as the vehicle can recognize there's a danger and stop safely it's not an issue. The decision just needs to be how it then proceeds. Does the vehicle decide what to do after on its own (continue round obstacle, reroute etc) or does it delegate to a "higher authority" and await commands/re route.
I can see people pushing self driving cars so hard they ride the AI Tiger off a cliff and a court bans driverless cars.
Drop a driver in by AI drone?
One of the solutions car manufactures are doing to mitigate this is putting some of the systems behind the windscreen. If they can't see, you can't see. Simple as.
Others are self cleaning and defrosting sensors. Remember most of the US and most people in the US live in places that get colder than the UK so it's something the big US automated car manufactures are taking very seriously.
At this moment in time I'm honestly not sure if they could or not. They can see adult humans and animals (the previously mentioned animals and pedestrian monitoring systems). Presumably the level 4 test vehicles can? Either way it's likely, even if they can't now, they will in the near future as technology improves. In 10 years? you can pretty much guarantee it.