On the back of this morning's stories re driverless cars, the budget and Clarkson's reported two near-death experiences, how convinced are we by the tech and potential implications - safety and otherwise.
For my part I just don't see how, when concentration is such an integral part of driving, one can be passive yet maintain and call on the necessary skills to override the system in an emergency. The two concepts are a total contradiction.
Driverless cars
VG Petrol S http://www.porsche-code.com/PHIVCQU7 And a GT3 RS... by Lego! Not crash-tested!
There are to many variables for me to be happy in a driverless road vehicle.
The sensing and control systems in any driverless vehicle are controlled by software, therin lies the bug, all it takes is for one glitch to occur.
I posted the other day of a driverless vehicle in Los Vegas being involved in an accident, it did what it was programmed to do and stopped when it was side swiped by a truck, if a human had been in control then avoiding action could have occured.
What would happen if a kid run out from behind a truck and it was a case of hitting the kid or taking avoiding actionand hitting a vehicle coming in the opposite direction?
What would happen if two opposing autonomous vehicles were in a street where there was only room for one?
Maybe they are trying to take to much of a leap and maybe incremental steps are necessary, such as control of speed, not allowing the vehicle to go through amber or red lights, not to enter a hatched area, not to lane hog, to slow down in areas of reduced width etc.
In the future when everything is or has autonomous driving capabilities things may be different and certainly it is the Motorways where these systems will come into there own, in conjested towns and cities it is another matter.
The sensing and control systems in any driverless vehicle are controlled by software, therin lies the bug, all it takes is for one glitch to occur.
I posted the other day of a driverless vehicle in Los Vegas being involved in an accident, it did what it was programmed to do and stopped when it was side swiped by a truck, if a human had been in control then avoiding action could have occured.
What would happen if a kid run out from behind a truck and it was a case of hitting the kid or taking avoiding actionand hitting a vehicle coming in the opposite direction?
What would happen if two opposing autonomous vehicles were in a street where there was only room for one?
Maybe they are trying to take to much of a leap and maybe incremental steps are necessary, such as control of speed, not allowing the vehicle to go through amber or red lights, not to enter a hatched area, not to lane hog, to slow down in areas of reduced width etc.
In the future when everything is or has autonomous driving capabilities things may be different and certainly it is the Motorways where these systems will come into there own, in conjested towns and cities it is another matter.
Col
Macan Turbo
Air, 20” wheels, ACC, Pano, SurCam, 14w, LEDs, PS+, Int Light Pack, Heated seats and Steering, spare wheel, SC, Privacy glass, PDK gear, SD mirrors, Met Black, rear airbags
Macan Turbo
Air, 20” wheels, ACC, Pano, SurCam, 14w, LEDs, PS+, Int Light Pack, Heated seats and Steering, spare wheel, SC, Privacy glass, PDK gear, SD mirrors, Met Black, rear airbags
I think that's the plan - a convoy of lorries with the leader being driven by a human.
VG Petrol S http://www.porsche-code.com/PHIVCQU7 And a GT3 RS... by Lego! Not crash-tested!
I would have a lot more faith - if I thought the development team was good and free of management pressure to fudge things - but as has been seen by cheat devices they aren't free/immune of such pressure and you just need to look at the quality of PCM modules to have serious concerns about the quality of staff the big makers will employ.
I think we may be better - instead of driverless cars, have the car aid the driver, we are seeing emergency braking when car detects issue - what about an intermediate step of an ESP style system that as well as knowing what is happening to car from sensors can also see where things are coming from and indicate to driver when they aren't braking in time for corner etc. That way we will build up a far better knowledge of how the car needs to respond when eventually self driving hits roads as while as increasing safety now.
I think we may be better - instead of driverless cars, have the car aid the driver, we are seeing emergency braking when car detects issue - what about an intermediate step of an ESP style system that as well as knowing what is happening to car from sensors can also see where things are coming from and indicate to driver when they aren't braking in time for corner etc. That way we will build up a far better knowledge of how the car needs to respond when eventually self driving hits roads as while as increasing safety now.
And could there be aftermarket ‘upgrades’?
A ludicrous driverless mode!
A ludicrous driverless mode!
VG Petrol S http://www.porsche-code.com/PHIVCQU7 And a GT3 RS... by Lego! Not crash-tested!
I think the step from active driving aids to fully automated driverless cars is a much bigger leap than many people think, especially some politicians!
As already mentioned above, simply too many variables, too many things to go wrong and insufficient control of the tech in private hands. Not to mention poor road infrastructure and issues with integrating driverless cars with human driven cars. Servicing would have to be meticulous and even the MOT test would need to become far more comprehensive to keep these vehicles operating safely.
So my personal take is that we are still decades away from true driverless cars even if the tech to create them is fairly close today. But maybe we will see them in certain limited controlled environments much sooner. Even now some cars are pretty much automated on motorway driving, but I wouldn't trust those completely with my own life.
As already mentioned above, simply too many variables, too many things to go wrong and insufficient control of the tech in private hands. Not to mention poor road infrastructure and issues with integrating driverless cars with human driven cars. Servicing would have to be meticulous and even the MOT test would need to become far more comprehensive to keep these vehicles operating safely.
So my personal take is that we are still decades away from true driverless cars even if the tech to create them is fairly close today. But maybe we will see them in certain limited controlled environments much sooner. Even now some cars are pretty much automated on motorway driving, but I wouldn't trust those completely with my own life.
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