3 ms·
Don't get me wrong I think this is an impressive feat and I am always impressed to see universities pull off these kinds of complex system and control projects.
by fieldmeasure 7y ago
Don't get me wrong I think this is an impressive feat and I am always impressed to see universities pull off these kinds of complex system and control projects. Yet, there are a few things that I would like to mention.
The article says that the car does "doughnuts with inhuman precision" and they want to develop vehicles that can handle "emergency maneuvers or slippery surfaces like ice or snow". In this context, I feel this demo falls a bit short. The car can drive with superhuman precision, but it also gets superhuman capabilities like inch-precision localization (and an IMU is my guess) or superhuman steering wheel turning speeds. And the vehicle is heavily modified for this specific use-case. Drifting looks stable in the video but I really cannot judge how much easier it is with this car than a normal car. In addition, the asphalt also looks fresh and clean. I would like to see what happens if it suddenly encounters wet surfaces (or ice).
edit: typos
- sudosysgen 7y agoInch precision localization isn't out of the grasp of human drivers. Kimi Raikkonen at Monaco coming millimetetd from the walls repeatedly comes to mind. It also isn't out of the abilities of a bog standard optical SLAM+IMU.
- matt-attack 7y agoDon’t forget a “normal” car is typically front wheel drive. I’m fairly certain drifting like this is nearly impossible with front wheel drive.
- Jamwinner 7y agoCorrect in this case. And to a pro driver, this is not drifting. This is donuts. Mashing the gass to lose grip is the lowest tier of 'drifting'. Real drifting as racers do it uses mostly the momentum and changing inerta from braking at corner entry to get sideways, using the gas only to modulye traction. That can be done in any car, fwd included.