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I’m confused. What kind of smaller mock-up are you imagining? I bet that Waymo considers lots of cases of driving solved (controlled environment parking lot) an

I’m confused. What kind of smaller mock-up are you imagining? I bet that Waymo considers lots of cases of driving solved (controlled environment parking lot) and we are seeing just another step up in terms of the scale of the problem.

stephengillie 9y ago
If you're just working on computer vision and world mapping, why do you need something bigger than an RC car? I started with a sonar sensor and an arduino on an RC car in 2012, and had a working prototype, but never secured funding (and eventually became homeless).
- nieksand 9y ago
  In the case of a real car, you aren't just reacting to the environment. The actors in the environment (cars, pedestrians, traffic light sensors) are reacting to you as well.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  Because an RC car with a sonar sensor and an arduino relates to a self driving car roughly the way a bicycle lock compares to a bank vault. Orders of magnitude in complexity difference and a much more hostile environment to survive in. I am not really comfortable writing this but seriously, if you have to ask this question I am actually happy you did not receive funding (but I am obviously not happy that you ended up homeless), that was not a prototype, it was not even a proof of concept. It was maybe a small step up from a toy. Sonar as a sensor may give you a little bit of input data but your arduino does not have the processing power to extract meaningful information about its environment from that data nor does that sensor give you sufficient information that you would use to pilot a couple of tons of steel through an environment inhabited by fragile humans.
  - gph 9y ago
    OP sounds like that semi-autistic guy who asked Elon Musk if they could work together at the shareholder meeting. In his mind he's exaggerating his work/abilities while dragging down what Waymo and self-driving researchers are doing. It's sort of sad to see.
username223 9y ago
How about interacting with pedestrians and cyclists? They could start with couriers, food delivery, animal control, city litter pick-up, janitorial services, etc. Of course they won't do that, because it's not "disrupting mobility," but merely eliminating some tedious, low-paying jobs.

stephengillie 9y ago

If you're just working on computer vision and world mapping, why do you need something bigger than an RC car? I started with a sonar sensor and an arduino on an RC car in 2012, and had a working prototype, but never secured funding (and eventually became homeless).

nieksand 9y ago
In the case of a real car, you aren't just reacting to the environment. The actors in the environment (cars, pedestrians, traffic light sensors) are reacting to you as well.
jacquesm 9y ago
Because an RC car with a sonar sensor and an arduino relates to a self driving car roughly the way a bicycle lock compares to a bank vault. Orders of magnitude in complexity difference and a much more hostile environment to survive in. I am not really comfortable writing this but seriously, if you have to ask this question I am actually happy you did not receive funding (but I am obviously not happy that you ended up homeless), that was not a prototype, it was not even a proof of concept. It was maybe a small step up from a toy. Sonar as a sensor may give you a little bit of input data but your arduino does not have the processing power to extract meaningful information about its environment from that data nor does that sensor give you sufficient information that you would use to pilot a couple of tons of steel through an environment inhabited by fragile humans.
- gph 9y ago
  OP sounds like that semi-autistic guy who asked Elon Musk if they could work together at the shareholder meeting. In his mind he's exaggerating his work/abilities while dragging down what Waymo and self-driving researchers are doing. It's sort of sad to see.

username223 9y ago

How about interacting with pedestrians and cyclists? They could start with couriers, food delivery, animal control, city litter pick-up, janitorial services, etc. Of course they won't do that, because it's not "disrupting mobility," but merely eliminating some tedious, low-paying jobs.