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Driving on highways is far easier than driving in cities because it's a more controlled environment. There aren't supposed to be pedestrians, bikers, traffic l

Driving on highways is far easier than driving in cities because it's a more controlled environment. There aren't supposed to be pedestrians, bikers, traffic lights, and it's generally a more constrained problem. Logistically, you can just have truckers drive in cities, get out at certain waypoints, and then have truckers take over again at waypoints (mostly located just outside cities). I'm not saying it's an easy problem, but it's a much easier problem. You also don't have to be as concerned with public perception, as you aren't asking a consumer to get inside of it.

disiplus 10y ago
yes and no, it is easier to do it. but large trucks are a bigger hazard on the road the a small car, they can break the middle barrier, can do a lot more damage on the road. the fines for the drivers and the companies are allot stricter. they have to get it 100% all the time or they cannot put it on the road. One glitch and you have a 25t missile on the highway. Imagine the chaos that can cause, and imagine the liability of the company operating that truck. while it is easier in ideal conditions, it is not easy in real world.
- marcosdumay 10y ago
  Believe it or not, making sure the truck fails safe and keeping it under control are far easier problems for a computer to solve than predicting if a pedestrian will jump in front of a car. But I'm not sure it makes any difference. You aren't "supposed" to find pedestrians in a road, but you'll certainly find them, and the truck must be able to deal with them.
  - thaeli 10y ago
    At interstate highway speeds, there is no dodging an unexpected pedestrian who jumps out into the road. Swerving creates greater danger - an overturned truck is likely to cause other severe accidents. Pretty much all a truck driver can do is apply moderate braking, lay on the horn, and stay in their lane.
    - disiplus 10y ago
      http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 there are other examples where trucks avoided certain deaths for car drivers in that they served left or right. and escaped car or pedestrians.
indexerror 10y ago
Except that the end to end points are not connected directly by a highway. They do have to move in the cities as well, so they need to optimise for that anyway.
- illumin8 10y ago
  The plan is to have a human drive the first and last mile (getting onto and off of the highway), while autonomous systems drive the truck only on the highway itself.

disiplus 10y ago

yes and no, it is easier to do it. but large trucks are a bigger hazard on the road the a small car, they can break the middle barrier, can do a lot more damage on the road. the fines for the drivers and the companies are allot stricter. they have to get it 100% all the time or they cannot put it on the road. One glitch and you have a 25t missile on the highway. Imagine the chaos that can cause, and imagine the liability of the company operating that truck. while it is easier in ideal conditions, it is not easy in real world.

marcosdumay 10y ago
Believe it or not, making sure the truck fails safe and keeping it under control are far easier problems for a computer to solve than predicting if a pedestrian will jump in front of a car. But I'm not sure it makes any difference. You aren't "supposed" to find pedestrians in a road, but you'll certainly find them, and the truck must be able to deal with them.
- thaeli 10y ago
  At interstate highway speeds, there is no dodging an unexpected pedestrian who jumps out into the road. Swerving creates greater danger - an overturned truck is likely to cause other severe accidents. Pretty much all a truck driver can do is apply moderate braking, lay on the horn, and stay in their lane.
  - disiplus 10y ago
    http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 there are other examples where trucks avoided certain deaths for car drivers in that they served left or right. and escaped car or pedestrians.

indexerror 10y ago

Except that the end to end points are not connected directly by a highway. They do have to move in the cities as well, so they need to optimise for that anyway.

illumin8 10y ago
The plan is to have a human drive the first and last mile (getting onto and off of the highway), while autonomous systems drive the truck only on the highway itself.