4 ms·

I think about all the times during winter when my car's traction control straight up gives up as I try to accelerate through an intersection or when I need to s

I think about all the times during winter when my car's traction control straight up gives up as I try to accelerate through an intersection or when I need to start slowing down an extra two blocks away because the ABS goes on every time I try to stop. I have no idea how AVs will nail that stuff, it's so much harder than keeping the car between the lanes and sussing out road signs.

dont__panic 5y ago
I think about all of the lanes in my city where line paint disappears intermittently, or where old lines/construction-era lines mess with my ability to comprehend where the lanes are, let alone an autonomous vehicle's. And then I think about all the potholes that I dodge when I drive around town. And how 4-ton electric vehicles are going to make road wear worse, not better.
bglazer 5y ago
The control aspects of self driving are much easier to solve. Here’s an autonomous drifting Delorean https://youtu.be/3x3SqeSdrAE https://youtu.be/3x3SqeSdrAE The physics and control of cars are quite well understood, even in extreme conditions. Further, sensors allow a car to detect changing road conditions much more quickly and adeptly than a typical human. The hard part of self driving seems to be understanding and predicting the humans in its environment.
- SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
  That example is still a car on a known good road conditions. Do you have an example where half the parking lot is covered in ice, or trying to break on a road with unpredictable traction so that they don't end up halfway through the intersection?
  - busyant 5y ago
    > Do you have an example where half the parking lot is covered in ice, or trying to break on a road with unpredictable traction so that they don't end up halfway through the intersection? If the car is "smart," maybe it will simply refuse to travel (because the calculated risk of traveling over an icy parking lot is above some maximum threshold risk).
    - hedora 5y ago
      Humans have no trouble in these conditions (after a brief training period). What happens the first time a steering wheel free car strands a family in a blizzard due to a few feet of icy pavement, ultimately freezing them to death?
      - ricardobayes 5y ago
        I don't think cars will ever remove steering wheels. That was just Elon's fantasy for a limited use (driving through Boring tunnels). Similarly how you don't have a steering wheel in a driverless metro. Or perhaps it will be retractable when not in use, like a tow hook.
    - SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
      That would make commuting in northern areas very interesting.

dont__panic 5y ago

I think about all of the lanes in my city where line paint disappears intermittently, or where old lines/construction-era lines mess with my ability to comprehend where the lanes are, let alone an autonomous vehicle's. And then I think about all the potholes that I dodge when I drive around town. And how 4-ton electric vehicles are going to make road wear worse, not better.

bglazer 5y ago

The control aspects of self driving are much easier to solve. Here’s an autonomous drifting Delorean https://youtu.be/3x3SqeSdrAE https://youtu.be/3x3SqeSdrAE The physics and control of cars are quite well understood, even in extreme conditions. Further, sensors allow a car to detect changing road conditions much more quickly and adeptly than a typical human. The hard part of self driving seems to be understanding and predicting the humans in its environment.

SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
That example is still a car on a known good road conditions. Do you have an example where half the parking lot is covered in ice, or trying to break on a road with unpredictable traction so that they don't end up halfway through the intersection?
- busyant 5y ago
  > Do you have an example where half the parking lot is covered in ice, or trying to break on a road with unpredictable traction so that they don't end up halfway through the intersection? If the car is "smart," maybe it will simply refuse to travel (because the calculated risk of traveling over an icy parking lot is above some maximum threshold risk).
  - hedora 5y ago
    Humans have no trouble in these conditions (after a brief training period). What happens the first time a steering wheel free car strands a family in a blizzard due to a few feet of icy pavement, ultimately freezing them to death?
    - ricardobayes 5y ago
      I don't think cars will ever remove steering wheels. That was just Elon's fantasy for a limited use (driving through Boring tunnels). Similarly how you don't have a steering wheel in a driverless metro. Or perhaps it will be retractable when not in use, like a tow hook.
  - SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
    That would make commuting in northern areas very interesting.