7 ms·

Could people start wearing small transmitters that nearby autonomous vehicles can read?

by preparat 9y ago

etrautmann 9y ago
Please no. You should not be required to carry a beacon in order to be safe walking around a city or crossing a street.
- Para2016 9y ago
  People are supposed to wear bright clothing when walking at night or biking. Maybe we can have an optional beacon..
- asdsa5325 9y ago
  The woman who was hit ran across the road. It's easy to be safe: don't do that.
  - phyzome 9y ago
    Am I supposed to get in a car to cross the street?
    - josefx 9y ago
      You could hail an Uber.
    - asdsa5325 9y ago
      Use a crosswalk?
      - phyzome 9y ago
        Sure, when they're available. Have you looked at the area where the woman was hit?
cdolan 9y ago
A technology/IoT solution to a problem that should never exist in the first place, brilliant!
Sargos 9y ago
This is about as feasible as putting smart chips in all roads so that cars know where the lanes are.
- mschuster91 9y ago
  > This is about as feasible as putting smart chips in all roads so that cars know where the lanes are. Lanes are marked, usually. So why not embed something like an UV/IR-only color pigment in the lanes? Invisible so it doesn't affect human drivers but can easily be picked up by cameras.
- stordoff 9y ago
  Roads are generally marked, and often have elements embedded in the surface (e.g. [1]). As self-driving cars become more prevalent, I don't see why you wouldn't adjust new/replaced markings to be something more readable by those vehicles. It obviously can't be the only signal used (because it's infeasible to change everything immediately, not all roads are marked, and wear/damage may make them unusable) but it may help improve reliability/accuracy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_eye_(road) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_eye_(road)
Slartie 9y ago
I like that idea! Gonna buy a bunch of those, amplify their signal and spread them throughout the city I live in. That will ensure that there's not going to be a single crappy autonomous car being beta-tested in my vicinity! Another idea would be to just throw them right in front of an autonomous vehicle at full speed. Let's test those brakes! (sorry, but the original idea is just so ridiculous that I am incapable of responding in a non-sarcastic way to this...)
tintor 9y ago
Such devices exist and they are LED lights that pedestrians and bicyclists already use.
jakeogh 9y ago
That was easy to see coming... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16620315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16620315
cesarb 9y ago
Better than a transmitter would be a passive retroreflector. I believe these are even already available on the market.
bobf 9y ago
I imagine phones will serve that role eventually. GPS chip accuracy is improving constantly and could be accurate to within a foot in some phones in the next year [1]. Google Maps / Waze already do something similar with predicting traffic times based on phone data (and other sources). GPS accuracy currently may make an individual's location slightly harder, but path prediction may help. (And, of course there are privacy concerns to consider.) [1] https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/25/16362296/gps-accuracy-improving-one-foot-broadcom https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/25/16362296/g...
- cimmanom 9y ago
  So if you're homeless and can't afford a phone or if you forgot yours at home or if you got pickpocketed... you can expect to get hit by a self driving car?
stordoff 9y ago
That sounds like something that will immediately be abused for tracking people, and an over-reliance on it may make it more dangerous for people not carrying one (don't want to, can't afford, signal blocked by item/clothing, simply forget etc.).

Could people start wearing small transmitters that nearby autonomous vehicles can read?

etrautmann 9y ago

Please no. You should not be required to carry a beacon in order to be safe walking around a city or crossing a street.

Para2016 9y ago
People are supposed to wear bright clothing when walking at night or biking. Maybe we can have an optional beacon..
asdsa5325 9y ago
The woman who was hit ran across the road. It's easy to be safe: don't do that.
- phyzome 9y ago
  Am I supposed to get in a car to cross the street?
  - josefx 9y ago
    You could hail an Uber.
  - asdsa5325 9y ago
    Use a crosswalk?
    - phyzome 9y ago
      Sure, when they're available. Have you looked at the area where the woman was hit?

cdolan 9y ago

A technology/IoT solution to a problem that should never exist in the first place, brilliant!

Sargos 9y ago

This is about as feasible as putting smart chips in all roads so that cars know where the lanes are.

mschuster91 9y ago
> This is about as feasible as putting smart chips in all roads so that cars know where the lanes are. Lanes are marked, usually. So why not embed something like an UV/IR-only color pigment in the lanes? Invisible so it doesn't affect human drivers but can easily be picked up by cameras.
stordoff 9y ago
Roads are generally marked, and often have elements embedded in the surface (e.g. [1]). As self-driving cars become more prevalent, I don't see why you wouldn't adjust new/replaced markings to be something more readable by those vehicles. It obviously can't be the only signal used (because it's infeasible to change everything immediately, not all roads are marked, and wear/damage may make them unusable) but it may help improve reliability/accuracy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_eye_(road) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_eye_(road)

Slartie 9y ago

I like that idea! Gonna buy a bunch of those, amplify their signal and spread them throughout the city I live in. That will ensure that there's not going to be a single crappy autonomous car being beta-tested in my vicinity! Another idea would be to just throw them right in front of an autonomous vehicle at full speed. Let's test those brakes! (sorry, but the original idea is just so ridiculous that I am incapable of responding in a non-sarcastic way to this...)

tintor 9y ago

Such devices exist and they are LED lights that pedestrians and bicyclists already use.

jakeogh 9y ago

That was easy to see coming... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16620315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16620315

cesarb 9y ago

Better than a transmitter would be a passive retroreflector. I believe these are even already available on the market.

bobf 9y ago

I imagine phones will serve that role eventually. GPS chip accuracy is improving constantly and could be accurate to within a foot in some phones in the next year [1]. Google Maps / Waze already do something similar with predicting traffic times based on phone data (and other sources). GPS accuracy currently may make an individual's location slightly harder, but path prediction may help. (And, of course there are privacy concerns to consider.) [1] https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/25/16362296/gps-accuracy-improving-one-foot-broadcom https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/25/16362296/g...

cimmanom 9y ago
So if you're homeless and can't afford a phone or if you forgot yours at home or if you got pickpocketed... you can expect to get hit by a self driving car?

stordoff 9y ago

That sounds like something that will immediately be abused for tracking people, and an over-reliance on it may make it more dangerous for people not carrying one (don't want to, can't afford, signal blocked by item/clothing, simply forget etc.).