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My father was a truck driver and from the stories I've heard, yes I think it's a very difficult job in a lot of cases. eg. hauling doubles (two trailers linked

My father was a truck driver and from the stories I've heard, yes I think it's a very difficult job in a lot of cases. eg. hauling doubles (two trailers linked together) during snow storms down steep inclines and having to fight the back of the trailer jack knifing as it swings one way, then the other, over and over until at the bottom of a slope.

dagw 5y ago
I would imagine that would be exactly the sort of things that robots could actually handle much better than humans. You would load up the trucks and trailers with sensors so that the AI knows exactly what is happening, force wise on every part of the trailer with millisecond accuracy, including full data on things like friction under the wheels, and the road surface temperature and road conditions ahead. Add a detailed 3D map of the whole road and the robot driver should handle this fine. Robots will even have advantages over humans since they can do things like control exact levels of breaking, power and even steering to each wheel independently giving them far more manoeuvring options than what a human has.
- bostonsre 5y ago
  I'm sure it would be possible, but I would assume controlling fish tailing tractor trailers in snow would be on the harder end of the spectrum of automating truck driver problems. It is a hard problem and there is a lot more risk to human life than automating a taxi in a city. Even if they perform better than real life drivers, it seems like we are trending towards requiring perfection and we might be a long way out to a scalable solution.
  - dagw 5y ago
    controlling fish tailing tractor trailers in snow would be on the harder end of the spectrum of automating truck driver problems Yes and no. On the one hand it's hard problem because of all the variables involved, on the other hand it's easy because it's 'just' a physics problem. There is no trying to second guess the intentions of other humans acting weirdly, no trying to decipher hastily erected diversion signs, no trying to interpret what that guy standing in the road waving a sign at you actually wants you to do etc.
    - alphabettsy 5y ago
      > There is no trying to second guess the intentions of other humans acting weirdly It would still have to contend with humans even in the snow storm scenario.

dagw 5y ago

I would imagine that would be exactly the sort of things that robots could actually handle much better than humans. You would load up the trucks and trailers with sensors so that the AI knows exactly what is happening, force wise on every part of the trailer with millisecond accuracy, including full data on things like friction under the wheels, and the road surface temperature and road conditions ahead. Add a detailed 3D map of the whole road and the robot driver should handle this fine. Robots will even have advantages over humans since they can do things like control exact levels of breaking, power and even steering to each wheel independently giving them far more manoeuvring options than what a human has.

bostonsre 5y ago
I'm sure it would be possible, but I would assume controlling fish tailing tractor trailers in snow would be on the harder end of the spectrum of automating truck driver problems. It is a hard problem and there is a lot more risk to human life than automating a taxi in a city. Even if they perform better than real life drivers, it seems like we are trending towards requiring perfection and we might be a long way out to a scalable solution.
- dagw 5y ago
  controlling fish tailing tractor trailers in snow would be on the harder end of the spectrum of automating truck driver problems Yes and no. On the one hand it's hard problem because of all the variables involved, on the other hand it's easy because it's 'just' a physics problem. There is no trying to second guess the intentions of other humans acting weirdly, no trying to decipher hastily erected diversion signs, no trying to interpret what that guy standing in the road waving a sign at you actually wants you to do etc.
  - alphabettsy 5y ago
    > There is no trying to second guess the intentions of other humans acting weirdly It would still have to contend with humans even in the snow storm scenario.