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I'd be impatient too if I was in a robot car that suddenly started driving erratically. There's no way to know whether it's going to continue harmlessly driving

by Zak 2y ago

I'd be impatient too if I was in a robot car that suddenly started driving erratically. There's no way to know whether it's going to continue harmlessly driving around a parking lot or suddenly do something dangerous. I probably would have looked for a stop button in the app before calling a phone number because that's faster. It seems weird there isn't a physical stop button inside the car.

aetherspawn 2y ago
Well, erratic seems like a bit of an exaggeration. It’s continuously driving the same circular route around a parking lot, but it’s not driving on a kerb or anything like that. You can see on the map that it goes into the drop off lane, for some reason thinks it can’t drop him off, so drives back into the car park, turns around, and heads back into the drop off lane. It’s not like it’s stuck in full lock doing donuts.
- kamaal 2y ago
  C'mon. Sitting inside a malfunctioning robot taxi, helplessly, with no clarity why its doing that. And being afraid it could do some thing more erratic, like going fast and hit a wall, or do some other life threatening thing. Bugs like these are not acceptable in machines where humans sit.
  - belter 2y ago
    If it does this it might as well drive into a lake or river...
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    The point is, it's still driving entirely safely. The headline is clickbait -- the car absolutely was not "spinning in circles". It was driving around a parking lot multiple times. I agree that clarity would be appreciated -- since this seems to be a routing issue, if the car explained it couldn't find a spot to stop so it was going around again. But of all the problems a self-driving car could have, safely repeating a loop around a parking lot is about as benign as you can get.
- throwaway290 2y ago
  Today it is driving in circles, tomorrow it is spinning in circles, next month all your doors lock up in 100 degree heat and your phone dies while you wait for support to pick up. Undefined behavior is undefined behavior.
- 627467 2y ago
  "hey, you were just stuck in an elevator going erratically up and down never opening the door for you to leave or stop. I don't know why you're freaking out about it"
- macNchz 2y ago
  With most software I am immediately concerned about what other unforeseen problems might happen as soon as it seems like the system has entered some kind of un- or semi-handled failure state.
- oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
  It's not illegal, but definitely erratic — the kind of thing the cops might well pull you over for, no? I understand the urgency since having to make a flight is one of the most expensive scheduling issues you could face.
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    Why would cops pull you over for circling a parking lot a few times? This is extremely normal driver behavior at airports when you're waiting for someone arriving to come out, and you're not allowed to stop at the curb for longer than a minute.
    - oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
      If it's literally "a few times", maybe not. If it went on for several minutes, and you weren't obviously looking for a space to park, it wouldn't surprise me. Any 'unusual' behaviour in a car is a potential cause for being pulled over.
  - Izkata 2y ago
    Unusual, but not erratic. Erratic is unpredictable or jerky movement, as if the car was also swerving side-to-side while going in circles.
carlosjobim 2y ago
>It seems weird there isn't a physical stop button inside the car. Think it through once more. For the down voters: It would be extremely dangerous if somebody pressed such a button when the car is going down the highway. The real world is not a video game where you can just abort or pause at any time. If you try, you will die.
- Zak 2y ago
  An emergency stop button for a robot car shouldn't immediately disengage all other automation and apply maximum braking as the parent comment seems to be implying. That would, indeed be very dangerous. An emergency stop routine should involve a code path designed to bring the car to a stop in a safe location as soon as practical. It should be thoroughly tested on degraded hardware with minimal branching relative to normal operation. It should also activate the hazard lights, contact the operator's emergency department, unlock all the doors, and lower the windows.
  - sixothree 2y ago
    Or maybe force a human to interact remotely. That would be preferable.

by Zak 2y ago

aetherspawn 2y ago

Well, erratic seems like a bit of an exaggeration. It’s continuously driving the same circular route around a parking lot, but it’s not driving on a kerb or anything like that. You can see on the map that it goes into the drop off lane, for some reason thinks it can’t drop him off, so drives back into the car park, turns around, and heads back into the drop off lane. It’s not like it’s stuck in full lock doing donuts.

kamaal 2y ago
C'mon. Sitting inside a malfunctioning robot taxi, helplessly, with no clarity why its doing that. And being afraid it could do some thing more erratic, like going fast and hit a wall, or do some other life threatening thing. Bugs like these are not acceptable in machines where humans sit.
- belter 2y ago
  If it does this it might as well drive into a lake or river...
- crazygringo 2y ago
  The point is, it's still driving entirely safely. The headline is clickbait -- the car absolutely was not "spinning in circles". It was driving around a parking lot multiple times. I agree that clarity would be appreciated -- since this seems to be a routing issue, if the car explained it couldn't find a spot to stop so it was going around again. But of all the problems a self-driving car could have, safely repeating a loop around a parking lot is about as benign as you can get.
throwaway290 2y ago
Today it is driving in circles, tomorrow it is spinning in circles, next month all your doors lock up in 100 degree heat and your phone dies while you wait for support to pick up. Undefined behavior is undefined behavior.
627467 2y ago
"hey, you were just stuck in an elevator going erratically up and down never opening the door for you to leave or stop. I don't know why you're freaking out about it"
macNchz 2y ago
With most software I am immediately concerned about what other unforeseen problems might happen as soon as it seems like the system has entered some kind of un- or semi-handled failure state.
oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
It's not illegal, but definitely erratic — the kind of thing the cops might well pull you over for, no? I understand the urgency since having to make a flight is one of the most expensive scheduling issues you could face.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  Why would cops pull you over for circling a parking lot a few times? This is extremely normal driver behavior at airports when you're waiting for someone arriving to come out, and you're not allowed to stop at the curb for longer than a minute.
  - oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
    If it's literally "a few times", maybe not. If it went on for several minutes, and you weren't obviously looking for a space to park, it wouldn't surprise me. Any 'unusual' behaviour in a car is a potential cause for being pulled over.
- Izkata 2y ago
  Unusual, but not erratic. Erratic is unpredictable or jerky movement, as if the car was also swerving side-to-side while going in circles.

carlosjobim 2y ago

>It seems weird there isn't a physical stop button inside the car. Think it through once more. For the down voters: It would be extremely dangerous if somebody pressed such a button when the car is going down the highway. The real world is not a video game where you can just abort or pause at any time. If you try, you will die.

Zak 2y ago
An emergency stop button for a robot car shouldn't immediately disengage all other automation and apply maximum braking as the parent comment seems to be implying. That would, indeed be very dangerous. An emergency stop routine should involve a code path designed to bring the car to a stop in a safe location as soon as practical. It should be thoroughly tested on degraded hardware with minimal branching relative to normal operation. It should also activate the hazard lights, contact the operator's emergency department, unlock all the doors, and lower the windows.
- sixothree 2y ago
  Or maybe force a human to interact remotely. That would be preferable.