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The only reason I paid any attention was because of an impressive demo they put out a few months back. https://youtu.be/6tA_VvHP0-s https://youtu.be/6tA_VvHP0-s

The only reason I paid any attention was because of an impressive demo they put out a few months back. https://youtu.be/6tA_VvHP0-s https://youtu.be/6tA_VvHP0-s Still, who knows at this point.

yourapostasy 9y ago
Neat, but I've yet to see a demo of a self-driving vehicle in rain so hard drivers slow down from 65 mph to 45 mph, the wipers at their fastest setting are struggling to keep up, and when you drive through a puddle, the splash from the water obscures the windshield for a couple seconds. Conditions with such low visibility from the rain coming down so hard that you wish you had a clear view screen (also called spin window) [1], usually found on ships and machine tools that use lots of liquid. Humans regularly drive through this kind of rain, though not well. If a self-driving platform relies exclusively upon LIDAR, my understanding is seeing through this much rain requires a lot more processing. The rain demos I've seen [2] [3] [4] are all in wet weather, but not this kind of heavy rain, where a promise of self-driving technology saving lives and property can be more assuredly realized. If anyone in the field knows of one of the contenders already working on training in such poor conditions, then please post a link to a demo if one is available. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_view_screen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_view_screen [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs9Gr9V2mOE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs9Gr9V2mOE [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlazzsroCA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlazzsroCA [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMvgtPN2IBU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMvgtPN2IBU
- bryanlarsen 9y ago
  If conditions are so bad that it's unsafe for humans or robots to drive, then refusing to drive in such conditions is the correct behaviour.
- mikepurvis 9y ago
  IMO, the real answer is that no one should be driving in that kind of weather, and autonomous systems which refuse to do so are simply doing what humans should be doing. I'd be very content with an autonomous vehicle that would detect these conditions and pull to the side of the road to wait for things to improve before proceeding.
  - vkou 9y ago
    People should be driving in that kind of weather. They should not be driving over, or at the speed limit in it, though.
  - quicklyfrozen 9y ago
    These conditions can come on very quickly, so even if your solution is to pull over and stop, you'll still need to find a way to do it safely. And if you're somewhere this is common (e.g. Florida), and there are still human drivers, you'll have to account for them not slowing down at all. If you're in an area where flash flooding can happen, waiting may be a more dangerous option. Or you could be in a place where there is no place to stop.

The only reason I paid any attention was because of an impressive demo they put out a few months back. https://youtu.be/6tA_VvHP0-s https://youtu.be/6tA_VvHP0-s Still, who knows at this point.

yourapostasy 9y ago

Neat, but I've yet to see a demo of a self-driving vehicle in rain so hard drivers slow down from 65 mph to 45 mph, the wipers at their fastest setting are struggling to keep up, and when you drive through a puddle, the splash from the water obscures the windshield for a couple seconds. Conditions with such low visibility from the rain coming down so hard that you wish you had a clear view screen (also called spin window) [1], usually found on ships and machine tools that use lots of liquid. Humans regularly drive through this kind of rain, though not well. If a self-driving platform relies exclusively upon LIDAR, my understanding is seeing through this much rain requires a lot more processing. The rain demos I've seen [2] [3] [4] are all in wet weather, but not this kind of heavy rain, where a promise of self-driving technology saving lives and property can be more assuredly realized. If anyone in the field knows of one of the contenders already working on training in such poor conditions, then please post a link to a demo if one is available. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_view_screen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_view_screen [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs9Gr9V2mOE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs9Gr9V2mOE [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlazzsroCA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlazzsroCA [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMvgtPN2IBU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMvgtPN2IBU

bryanlarsen 9y ago
If conditions are so bad that it's unsafe for humans or robots to drive, then refusing to drive in such conditions is the correct behaviour.
mikepurvis 9y ago
IMO, the real answer is that no one should be driving in that kind of weather, and autonomous systems which refuse to do so are simply doing what humans should be doing. I'd be very content with an autonomous vehicle that would detect these conditions and pull to the side of the road to wait for things to improve before proceeding.
- vkou 9y ago
  People should be driving in that kind of weather. They should not be driving over, or at the speed limit in it, though.
- quicklyfrozen 9y ago
  These conditions can come on very quickly, so even if your solution is to pull over and stop, you'll still need to find a way to do it safely. And if you're somewhere this is common (e.g. Florida), and there are still human drivers, you'll have to account for them not slowing down at all. If you're in an area where flash flooding can happen, waiting may be a more dangerous option. Or you could be in a place where there is no place to stop.