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Are there that many (or even any) autonomous vehicles designed to drive on bike paths and/or sidewalks exclusively ?

smokel 2y ago
There is quite some research being done on autonomous wheelchairs.
dghlsakjg 2y ago
No, but presumably there are huge datasets from Tesla, Waymo, et al. that are tracking the boundaries of the road, crosswalks, the existence, or lack, of sidewalks, pedestrian density, desire paths, and all sorts of things that aren't on the map. If they aren't actively being tracked, the raw data could be used as training data against areas with known non-car infrastructure to create a model that maps areas with no data.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Why do you think a private company attempting to beat the competition would make any of their data publicly available for other companies to benefit?
  - AlotOfReading 2y ago
    You might well ask the same about code, ML models, or testing datasets, all of which have established concepts of open access. The Waymo open dataset in particular contains some of the data being discussed. Can you clarify the difference you think is significant here?
  - dghlsakjg 2y ago
    I didn't say they would be eager to do that, but I would hope they would understand why it might be a long term loss to hoard data that makes roads safer. One answer is that they might have to in order to be allowed to operate. Since operating a private service on public infrastructure is not a right, it is perfectly reasonable to require that companies share their data especially when that data relates to safety. Getting run over by a Tesla in an unmarked, but legal, crosswalk that Waymo knows is frequently used, and should be crossed with caution is not desirable under any reasonable model of capitalism and competition. You can also make the case that if you want ANY autonomous driving to be commercially successful, you need to make sure that ALL autonomous driving is safe. Up to date maps of where the squishy humans are likely to be is a great way for all players to ensure that a single incident doesn't set back the entire industry. A Tesla running over a pedestrian isn't a win for Waymo. Basically my feeling is that it is perfectly reasonable to require companies to share their data about the location of sidewalks and other infrastructure in exchange for getting to use public property. It benefits everyone, and is likely to have little to no impact on their competitiveness.
AlotOfReading 2y ago
Starship delivery robots are the most notable these days since most of the others are bankrupt. Either way, very few pedestrian spaces in SF are out of sight of driven mapping vehicles and most of those are parks that are easily mapped or interior spaces.
kalleboo 2y ago
There are actually quite a few, they show up in the news now and again https://futurism.com/the-byte/delivery-bot-crime-scene https://futurism.com/the-byte/delivery-bot-crime-scene https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63821535 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63821535 https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100290734/delivery-robot-woods-northampton-england-united-kingdom https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100290734/delivery-robot-woo...

There is quite some research being done on autonomous wheelchairs.

No, but presumably there are huge datasets from Tesla, Waymo, et al. that are tracking the boundaries of the road, crosswalks, the existence, or lack, of sidewalks, pedestrian density, desire paths, and all sorts of things that aren't on the map. If they aren't actively being tracked, the raw data could be used as training data against areas with known non-car infrastructure to create a model that maps areas with no data.

dylan604 2y ago
Why do you think a private company attempting to beat the competition would make any of their data publicly available for other companies to benefit?
- AlotOfReading 2y ago
  You might well ask the same about code, ML models, or testing datasets, all of which have established concepts of open access. The Waymo open dataset in particular contains some of the data being discussed. Can you clarify the difference you think is significant here?
- dghlsakjg 2y ago
  I didn't say they would be eager to do that, but I would hope they would understand why it might be a long term loss to hoard data that makes roads safer. One answer is that they might have to in order to be allowed to operate. Since operating a private service on public infrastructure is not a right, it is perfectly reasonable to require that companies share their data especially when that data relates to safety. Getting run over by a Tesla in an unmarked, but legal, crosswalk that Waymo knows is frequently used, and should be crossed with caution is not desirable under any reasonable model of capitalism and competition. You can also make the case that if you want ANY autonomous driving to be commercially successful, you need to make sure that ALL autonomous driving is safe. Up to date maps of where the squishy humans are likely to be is a great way for all players to ensure that a single incident doesn't set back the entire industry. A Tesla running over a pedestrian isn't a win for Waymo. Basically my feeling is that it is perfectly reasonable to require companies to share their data about the location of sidewalks and other infrastructure in exchange for getting to use public property. It benefits everyone, and is likely to have little to no impact on their competitiveness.

AlotOfReading 2y ago

Starship delivery robots are the most notable these days since most of the others are bankrupt. Either way, very few pedestrian spaces in SF are out of sight of driven mapping vehicles and most of those are parks that are easily mapped or interior spaces.

kalleboo 2y ago

There are actually quite a few, they show up in the news now and again https://futurism.com/the-byte/delivery-bot-crime-scene https://futurism.com/the-byte/delivery-bot-crime-scene https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63821535 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63821535 https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100290734/delivery-robot-woods-northampton-england-united-kingdom https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100290734/delivery-robot-woo...