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I think solving 100% is possible but unlikely as I believe it would require two things that I doubt will happen in the next 50+ years: All cars to universally
by tw04 6y ago
I think solving 100% is possible but unlikely as I believe it would require two things that I doubt will happen in the next 50+ years:
All cars to universally communicate with each other.
The roads themselves to have sensors relaying information to the cars.
I’m skeptical car sensors alone will ever be able to accomplish the end goal they’re seeking, especially in the face of potential bad actors intentionally trying to break them. The only way I see that changing is with some unexpected monumental leap in technology. Like a 10000x increase in storage and compute power.
- bobthepanda 6y agoAlso, any solution requiring the roads to be better and in tip-top condition is a nonstarter. It is really not that hard to find reports of a rich-world jurisdiction where the roads are potholed and the paint is barely visible, and we expect the authorities to change their lack of maintenance all of a sudden?
- rini17 6y agoIt is already technically feasible to have cheap mass produced RFID dust directly mixed into the tar/concrete pavement and programmed to supply navigation/road condition information. They don't even need sensors, the cars using the road could update the data instead. The cynic in me could imagine how the road will inform the car where the potholes are, car will automatically avoid them and the road maintenance can be further postponed.
- bobthepanda 6y agoThe amount of additional money in any road budget for this is $0. Are Tesla and Waymo et al supposed to fund this out of pocket? Because otherwise it's not happening.
- rini17 6y agoPerhaps they would serve ads?
- bobthepanda 6y agoRFID is not capable of serving ads on its own. They're basically just wireless barcodes. In any case, privately funded anything for roads only works on very heavily traveled roads where there's enough traffic to justify trying to reach out to potential customers that way. Your quiet suburban street, mountain road, or rural interstate is not going to generate enough traffic to pay for itself, so it won't happen. And billboards and roadside advertising are not even legal in all 50 states of the US, let alone other countries.
- brokenmachine 6y agoNice. A road that serves you ads. The future sucks.
- brokenmachine 6y agoHow exactly does the RFID road inform the car where the potholes are? More likely the dust moves and the car thinks the road isn't where it should be. Sounds like there are so many ways this could be abused/vandalized/not work.
- rini17 6y agoThey are mixed in when laying the road, so they are firmly embedded in the material. Car that detects a pothole will save the information into remaining chips around it.
- bobthepanda 6y agoSounds like a great way to pollute groundwater as it passes through the pavement.
- brokenmachine 6y agoSo the car is detecting the pothole itself? What's the point then? Cars could potentially do this now without any rfid-in-the-road silliness. What problem is this solving?