Electric Self Drivng Cars vs Roads

It is going to be a long long time.

Our Mercedes Actros which are semi autonomous can steer, brake and accelerate. I think I used it once to see what it is all about. It is very slow and dim witted. It mistakes road signs and miss-reads roundabouts. In the weather like we have had recently like the freezing fog you will end up with all sorts of errors on screen and it just becomes disabled. You see lots of videos of trucks that reverse themselves but are mainly rigids in massive open RDC's not some factory down a cobbled road that requires the trailer to be jack knifed in at over a 90 degree angle with bollards everywhere.

The current system of radar and cameras is just ripe for failure. You need a real human AI which is ages away.
 
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If we took the investment of time and money spent on advancing self driving cars and instead ploughed it into making people better drivers through training and education, then I reckon the roads would be far safer and more enjoyable to use.

Obviously, I know it can't happen because it's private money and there's no profit to be made this way, but that's my 2 pence worth on the subject.
 
I would like to see some aspects in vehicles going forward especially collision avoidance systems (obviously with appropriate ability to switch features on/off, etc.) and ideally some active navigation assists - so for instance if you encounter for the first time some arse-backwards planned road layout (which increasingly seems to be any new layout) you have a bit more of a heads up as to how to navigate it, etc.
 
After our Honda performed 2 emergency stops on S bends I decided our next car wouldn’t have this fantastic new tech.
Of course you can switch it off but then try explaining to the insurance company why it was switched off in the event of an accident.
ABS traction control saves lives, but I’m not liking the auto drive I’ve experienced.
(Scary to think if a vehicle had been following me closely when these random emergency stops where performed).
 
SkodaMart said:
After our Honda performed 2 emergency stops on S bends I decided our next car wouldn’t have this fantastic new tech.
Of course you can switch it off but then try explaining to the insurance company why it was switched off in the event of an accident.
ABS traction control saves lives, but I’m not liking the auto drive I’ve experienced.
(Scary to think if a vehicle had been following me closely when these random emergency stops where performed).
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I turn most stuff off like lane assist but surprisingly I've had no problems with any implementation of forward collision avoidance system I've experience of though I've not tried Honda's - unlike auto-dipping headlights which is only about 80% reliable annoyingly.

I've only had forward collision systems activate twice, both times appropriately and one of those instances (which was not my fault) would have been a close call if down to my reactions alone.

EDIT: Blind spot warning is nice to have as well though IMO largely something which shouldn't be needed but we all have the occasional lapse.

I can't really see fully autonomous driving coming any time soon when we can't even make these assist features close to if not completely reliable.
 
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SkodaMart said:
After our Honda performed 2 emergency stops on S bends I decided our next car wouldn’t have this fantastic new tech.
Of course you can switch it off but then try explaining to the insurance company why it was switched off in the event of an accident.
ABS traction control saves lives, but I’m not liking the auto drive I’ve experienced.
(Scary to think if a vehicle had been following me closely when these random emergency stops where performed).
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Trucks have had this for years and it can be quite violent and happen out of the blue. It thought I was going to hit a bridge once on the M6 and it slammed on the anchors at 56mph. I can only guess that the shadow of the bridge or something made it think it was lower than it actually was!

Same thing happens with cars that are waiting to turn right on a road but you pass them on the left.

Do not get me wrong it is a fantastic tool but it will not get it right all the time.
 
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adam cool dude said:
Trucks have had this for years and it can be quite violent and happen out of the blue. It thought I was going to hit a bridge once on the M6 and it slammed on the anchors at 56mph. I can only guess that the shadow of the bridge or something made it think it was lower than it actually was!

Same thing happens with cars that are waiting to turn right on a road but you pass them on the left.

Do not get me wrong it is a fantastic tool but it will not get it right all the time.
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It's funny because this happens all the time with code. So many possible unwanted results between what data is collected and what decisions the code makes when it gets that data.

You just don't usually have have the code making driving decisions for a 30 ton vehicle on a public road.

We're on a hardware forum and everyone expects hardware and software bugs yet there's tinted glasses being worn for fantasising about fully automated vehicles on a public road.
 
To clarify how this happened I was entering an S bend wheels currently facing straight ahead.
A stone moving quarry truck was heading straight for me on a collision course - but he was following the bend in the road. My car saw this as a head on and applied the brakes not knowing that the truck was actually following the path of the road and was about to turn to avoid me.
Detection is one thing, but a human can predict and that’s the difference.
I do agree that this is great tech (if it works correctly).
 
I don't think we will see fully autonomous self driving cars for sometime, possibly the next 20-30 years.

I do think we will see autonomous passenger drones sooner though, they could easily function without a pilot, first it would be point a to point b, then it would slowly become more flexible with its ability to take of and land from different locations like road side etc

That I could see coming 10-15 years or less.
 
i think they need to get cars talking to each other rather than scanning their surroundings. if they bluetoothed/whatever they could be a lot more accurate it reporting who was approaching where from which direction and the proper algorithms could probably simulate the common sense and general courtesy that humans have mostly abandoned over the past decade.
 
wolfie138 said:
i think they need to get cars talking to each other rather than scanning their surroundings. if they Bluetooth/whatever they could be a lot more accurate it reporting who was approaching where from which direction and the proper algorithms could probably simulate the common sense and general courtesy that humans have mostly abandoned over the past decade.
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I think its all in this. If the cars/vehicles talk to each other location wise then i would guess there would be less chances of accidents.

Fitting sensors to the roads is hard.

Reasons roads are worse is there is more vehicles on them. Part of the issue is poor driving but i think more people = more problems, even more so as we're all generally impatient at some point.

I wouldn't introduce autonomous driving. I think the driving aids such as emergency stop and lane assist and blindspot are as far as it should go.
 
sja360 said:
I think its all in this. If the cars/vehicles talk to each other location wise then i would guess there would be less chances of accidents.

Fitting sensors to the roads is hard.

Reasons roads are worse is there is more vehicles on them. Part of the issue is poor driving but i think more people = more problems, even more so as we're all generally impatient at some point.

I wouldn't introduce autonomous driving. I think the driving aids such as emergency stop and lane assist and blindspot are as far as it should go.
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Full autonomous driving could massively change the way we move about the world though. No need for carparks, you're dropped off at the front entrance and the car leaves. No need for individual car ownership, just subscribe. Car sharing would be effective if you wanted to save money. Vastly more efficient use of resources (both fuel and raw materials) with far fewer cars needed on the road. Individual car ownership is massively wasteful, most cars spend the vast majority of time sat on a driveway or a work carpark. Free up the time spent driving. The concept has it's merits when it's done right.
 
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Minstadave said:
Full autonomous driving could massively change the way we move about the world though. No need for carparks, you're dropped off at the front entrance and the car leaves. No need for individual car ownership, just subscribe. Car sharing would be effective if you wanted to save money. Vastly more efficient use of resources (both fuel and raw materials) with far fewer cars needed on the road. Individual car ownership is massively wasteful, most cars spend the vast majority of time sat on a driveway or a work carpark. Free up the time spent driving. The concept has it's merits when it's done right.
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Easy does it lol. you've blown my mind with a blade runner / the fifth element style driving set up.
Think there is a serious question of responsibility / copability & legality of it all. Does the car maker take responsibility? Government? Occupant?

Its very interesting but i suspect we are the only ones talking about it, i hardly think tesla and nissan or any other car maker are showing their long term autonomous plans sadly.
 
sja360 said:
Easy does it lol. you've blown my mind with a blade runner / the fifth element style driving set up.
Think there is a serious question of responsibility / copability & legality of it all. Does the car maker take responsibility? Government? Occupant?

Its very interesting but i suspect we are the only ones talking about it, i hardly think tesla and nissan or any other car maker are showing their long term autonomous plans sadly.
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No idea. I just want to be able to nap on my commute to be honest :cry:
 
Minstadave said:
Full autonomous driving could massively change the way we move about the world though. No need for carparks, you're dropped off at the front entrance and the car leaves. No need for individual car ownership, just subscribe. Car sharing would be effective if you wanted to save money. Vastly more efficient use of resources (both fuel and raw materials) with far fewer cars needed on the road. Individual car ownership is massively wasteful, most cars spend the vast majority of time sat on a driveway or a work carpark. Free up the time spent driving. The concept has it's merits when it's done right.
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How did you summon up the virtues of vastly more efficient use of resources and less cars on the road while still talking about cars on the road for personal use.

I don't think anyone in here is fantasising about driverless buses but that's how you get efficiency and uncrowd the roads of 1.something occupant personal vehicles.

If I'm not mistaken what people are dreaming about is a personal car driving itself. Still horrifically wasteful in every way.
 
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sja360 said:
Easy does it lol. you've blown my mind with a blade runner / the fifth element style driving set up.
Think there is a serious question of responsibility / copability & legality of it all. Does the car maker take responsibility? Government? Occupant?

Its very interesting but i suspect we are the only ones talking about it, i hardly think tesla and nissan or any other car maker are showing their long term autonomous plans sadly.
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Tesla have already eluded to the vision that you can put your Tesla to work when not in use as an autonomous taxi.
 
Minstadave said:
Full autonomous driving could massively change the way we move about the world though. No need for carparks, you're dropped off at the front entrance and the car leaves. No need for individual car ownership, just subscribe. Car sharing would be effective if you wanted to save money. Vastly more efficient use of resources (both fuel and raw materials) with far fewer cars needed on the road. Individual car ownership is massively wasteful, most cars spend the vast majority of time sat on a driveway or a work carpark. Free up the time spent driving. The concept has it's merits when it's done right.
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You also effectively remove the need for trains as well as a form of transport. You could quite easily increase speeds on the motorway to over 100MPH because everything will be in sync and together. The 100 mile stretch from the midlands on the A1/A14/M25 could be cut by 20-30 minutes easily. Although I do not think we will see anything like that in my lifetime. If I even get to see the end of my lifetime the way this government are going!
 
adam cool dude said:
You also effectively remove the need for trains as well as a form of transport. You could quite easily increase speeds on the motorway to over 100MPH because everything will be in sync and together. The 100 mile stretch from the midlands on the A1/A14/M25 could be cut by 20-30 minutes easily. Although I do not think we will see anything like that in my lifetime. If I even get to see the end of my lifetime the way this government are going!
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Lol dude. Cars will never replace trains. When was the last time you caught one? You'd need like 200 more cars per departing train unless everyone car pooled.
 
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