5 ms·

"If you actually replace all human drivers with all computer drivers" I drive motorcycle (and enjoy that), I doubt autopilot will come to those anytime soon..

by kbart 10y ago

kagamine 10y ago
There are many other vehicles on the road also needing a human to drive them, tractors, heavy machinery, buses (that are not part of a regular, pre-defined route) ++. In the future though, it will always be your fault, because you are one person trying to prove an accident was not your fault against a big-money company. Good luck.
- kbart 10y ago
  "In the future though, it will always be your fault, because you are one person trying to prove an accident was not your fault against a big-money company." That's why I always wear videoregistrator on my helmet. It paid off for itself many times already.
- leni536 10y ago
  >tractors I would expect that it's quite easy to autopilot a tractor on the road. They already use autopilot in the field.
  - kagamine 10y ago
    It will be decades before farm machinery is replaced by modern tech. Decades. I would like HN users to very much stop dismissing any discussion on the topic of automated vehicles with glib reactions devoid of thought.
    - Animats 10y ago
      Self-driving is a common feature on modern tractors. It's been available for almost 15 years.[1] Even when there's an operator in the cab, it's common to have automatic steering to keep the rows precise. The usual setup involves a pseudolite on the farm as a local reference for GPS correction. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7xc45LyhoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7xc45LyhoU
      - kagamine 10y ago
        Perhaps on modern farm equipment, but tractors last for decades and many of the tractors in rural Europe aren't even fuel injected. It will be many years until tractors and combine harvesters and the like are swapped out for newer equipment.
        Animats 10y ago
        There are retrofits. "If it has a steering wheel, we can do it."[1] [1] https://www.precisionfarmingdealer.com/articles/2211-retrofitting-technology-creates-aftermarket-opportunities https://www.precisionfarmingdealer.com/articles/2211-retrofi...
Ma8ee 10y ago
I'm fine with that. Motorcycle riders kill almost exclusively themselves.
- lostlogin 10y ago
  To add an actual data point, in New Zealand bike rider fatalities are not the motor bike riders fault about 30% of the time and in non fatal crashes the figure is about 40%. www.transport.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Research/Documents/Motorcycles-15.pdf
  - kbart 10y ago
    "in New Zealand bike rider fatalities are not the motor bike riders fault about 30% of the time and in non fatal crashes the figure is about 40%." In Lithuania it's even worse, around 60% (2014 data).
  - Ma8ee 10y ago
    My point was not that motorcycle drivers are worse drivers than car drivers. It's probably the other way around. But with computer drivers very soon much safer than human drivers, I'm very eager to get all trucks and cars driven by computers because it significantly reduce the risk of me or someone I care about being killed in traffic. But if someone wants to continue to steer their motorcycle themselves, I'm fine with that because it is unlikely that I'll be seriously hurt in a collision between my car and a motorcycle.
Animats 10y ago
Anthony Levandowski, one of the key people behind Google's self-driving car effort, built a self-driving motorcycle for the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. It's now in the Smithsonian.[1] [1] http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1332301 http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah...
- kbart 10y ago
  Nice, but robot-on-two-wheels is not quite the same as motorcycle autopiloting with human on top, who doesn't sit still and doesn't handle sudden movements well.
  - croon 10y ago
    Though to be fair I absolutely don't see the point in sitting on a motorcycle unless you're driving it. It's not like you can occupy your time with anything else than leaning over to hold the handlebars.

"If you actually replace all human drivers with all computer drivers" I drive motorcycle (and enjoy that), I doubt autopilot will come to those anytime soon..

by kbart 10y ago

"If you actually replace all human drivers with all computer drivers" I drive motorcycle (and enjoy that), I doubt autopilot will come to those anytime soon..

kagamine 10y ago

There are many other vehicles on the road also needing a human to drive them, tractors, heavy machinery, buses (that are not part of a regular, pre-defined route) ++. In the future though, it will always be your fault, because you are one person trying to prove an accident was not your fault against a big-money company. Good luck.

kbart 10y ago
"In the future though, it will always be your fault, because you are one person trying to prove an accident was not your fault against a big-money company." That's why I always wear videoregistrator on my helmet. It paid off for itself many times already.
leni536 10y ago
>tractors I would expect that it's quite easy to autopilot a tractor on the road. They already use autopilot in the field.
- kagamine 10y ago
  It will be decades before farm machinery is replaced by modern tech. Decades. I would like HN users to very much stop dismissing any discussion on the topic of automated vehicles with glib reactions devoid of thought.
  - Animats 10y ago
    Self-driving is a common feature on modern tractors. It's been available for almost 15 years.[1] Even when there's an operator in the cab, it's common to have automatic steering to keep the rows precise. The usual setup involves a pseudolite on the farm as a local reference for GPS correction. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7xc45LyhoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7xc45LyhoU
    - kagamine 10y ago
      Perhaps on modern farm equipment, but tractors last for decades and many of the tractors in rural Europe aren't even fuel injected. It will be many years until tractors and combine harvesters and the like are swapped out for newer equipment.
      - Animats 10y ago
        There are retrofits. "If it has a steering wheel, we can do it."[1] [1] https://www.precisionfarmingdealer.com/articles/2211-retrofitting-technology-creates-aftermarket-opportunities https://www.precisionfarmingdealer.com/articles/2211-retrofi...

Ma8ee 10y ago

I'm fine with that. Motorcycle riders kill almost exclusively themselves.

lostlogin 10y ago
To add an actual data point, in New Zealand bike rider fatalities are not the motor bike riders fault about 30% of the time and in non fatal crashes the figure is about 40%. www.transport.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Research/Documents/Motorcycles-15.pdf
- kbart 10y ago
  "in New Zealand bike rider fatalities are not the motor bike riders fault about 30% of the time and in non fatal crashes the figure is about 40%." In Lithuania it's even worse, around 60% (2014 data).
- Ma8ee 10y ago
  My point was not that motorcycle drivers are worse drivers than car drivers. It's probably the other way around. But with computer drivers very soon much safer than human drivers, I'm very eager to get all trucks and cars driven by computers because it significantly reduce the risk of me or someone I care about being killed in traffic. But if someone wants to continue to steer their motorcycle themselves, I'm fine with that because it is unlikely that I'll be seriously hurt in a collision between my car and a motorcycle.

Animats 10y ago

Anthony Levandowski, one of the key people behind Google's self-driving car effort, built a self-driving motorcycle for the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. It's now in the Smithsonian.[1] [1] http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1332301 http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah...

kbart 10y ago
Nice, but robot-on-two-wheels is not quite the same as motorcycle autopiloting with human on top, who doesn't sit still and doesn't handle sudden movements well.
- croon 10y ago
  Though to be fair I absolutely don't see the point in sitting on a motorcycle unless you're driving it. It's not like you can occupy your time with anything else than leaning over to hold the handlebars.