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> for all its expertise in developing search technology and software, Google has zero experience building cars. To understand how autonomous driving is more lik

> for all its expertise in developing search technology and software, Google has zero experience building cars. To understand how autonomous driving is more likely to emerge, it is more instructive to see what some of the world’s most advanced automakers are working on What is this bullshit? He basically dismisses the entire Google effort right off the bat, and provides no information about it whatsoever? Just like that? As far as I know, Google is in fact much farther along than BMW, and I'd really like to know what they're capable of. It doesn't matter that Google isn't a car company. If they can manage reliable driverless cars, car companies will be lining up to license their technology.

conroy 13y ago
I agree the swipe at Google is unwarranted, but later in the article he mentions that the LIDAR sensors used in Google's cars cost $80,000 a pop.
- dangrossman 13y ago
  I've also read that LIDAR doesn't work in rain, or even fog. I never see weather brought up in any detail in any writeups of autonomous vehicles. How close can we be if the sensors they're using only function on sunny California days? How will any car deal with the rest of the country where several months a year, a coating of snow can block any sensor from seeing lane markings, signs and signals, and even the outline of the roadway?
  - nitrogen 13y ago
    LIDAR can be augmented or replaced by other sensing technologies that penetrate precipitation better than human eyesight can; the algorithms will most likely still work. When the road is coated with snow, the cars could do what human drivers do: analyze the behavior of other cars, look for emergent traffic flows (in my experience a four-lane freeway becomes three well-spaced lanes in well-packed but not deep snow, and flows surprisingly well), and follow the pack.
    - ericd 13y ago
      Right, the beautiful thing about probabilistic machine learning/AI is that it can use the signals it gets, and even ignore some conflicting evidence, without having to be explicitly programmed with rules. I think a lot of people underestimate what's possible there, or take an overly simplistic view of what it'd be capable of, since we're so used to having to design behavior.
- Smegger 13y ago
  It may cost that much right now but, the google cars are a prototype, and prototypes cost far more than any mass produced component.
- acchow 13y ago
  The sensor choice is mostly irrelevant. Algorithms is everything. Swap in whatever sensor/sensor array you choose for your climate.
- andy_boot 13y ago
  $80K a pop when you are buying a few a year. When you order a million of them I'd hope economies of scale would kick in and they'd get a lot cheaper.
mruniverse 13y ago
I thought it was a pretty thoughtless statement too. Google doesn't need experience building cars. We have cars. The driver-less technology is what is missing and Google has the talent and money to do it.
- yen223 13y ago
  It's not entirely unjustified. I don't think people appreciate the sheer difference between making one self-driving car, and making a million self-driving cars.
  - mruniverse 13y ago
    We appreciate it, but right now we just have to make one. The million will come later.
ars 13y ago
I wondered the same thing, he dismisses Google way too easily. I can only imagine that either he didn't want to travel to the US, or that Google wouldn't give him a demo. So he justified it after the fact.
acchow 13y ago
I'm almost certain Google's self-driving car is leaps and bounds ahead of BMWs. Particularly, his BMW demo occurred on the highway, not city streets. Conditions on the highway are far more predictable, there are no turning choices to make (just follow the road!), and no pedestrians. BMW also doesn't seem to be interested in self-driving on city streets. FTA: 'He said the company aims to be “one of the first in the world” to introduce highway autonomy.'

conroy 13y ago

I agree the swipe at Google is unwarranted, but later in the article he mentions that the LIDAR sensors used in Google's cars cost $80,000 a pop.

dangrossman 13y ago
I've also read that LIDAR doesn't work in rain, or even fog. I never see weather brought up in any detail in any writeups of autonomous vehicles. How close can we be if the sensors they're using only function on sunny California days? How will any car deal with the rest of the country where several months a year, a coating of snow can block any sensor from seeing lane markings, signs and signals, and even the outline of the roadway?
- nitrogen 13y ago
  LIDAR can be augmented or replaced by other sensing technologies that penetrate precipitation better than human eyesight can; the algorithms will most likely still work. When the road is coated with snow, the cars could do what human drivers do: analyze the behavior of other cars, look for emergent traffic flows (in my experience a four-lane freeway becomes three well-spaced lanes in well-packed but not deep snow, and flows surprisingly well), and follow the pack.
  - ericd 13y ago
    Right, the beautiful thing about probabilistic machine learning/AI is that it can use the signals it gets, and even ignore some conflicting evidence, without having to be explicitly programmed with rules. I think a lot of people underestimate what's possible there, or take an overly simplistic view of what it'd be capable of, since we're so used to having to design behavior.
Smegger 13y ago
It may cost that much right now but, the google cars are a prototype, and prototypes cost far more than any mass produced component.
acchow 13y ago
The sensor choice is mostly irrelevant. Algorithms is everything. Swap in whatever sensor/sensor array you choose for your climate.
andy_boot 13y ago
$80K a pop when you are buying a few a year. When you order a million of them I'd hope economies of scale would kick in and they'd get a lot cheaper.

mruniverse 13y ago

I thought it was a pretty thoughtless statement too. Google doesn't need experience building cars. We have cars. The driver-less technology is what is missing and Google has the talent and money to do it.

yen223 13y ago
It's not entirely unjustified. I don't think people appreciate the sheer difference between making one self-driving car, and making a million self-driving cars.
- mruniverse 13y ago
  We appreciate it, but right now we just have to make one. The million will come later.

ars 13y ago

I wondered the same thing, he dismisses Google way too easily. I can only imagine that either he didn't want to travel to the US, or that Google wouldn't give him a demo. So he justified it after the fact.

acchow 13y ago

I'm almost certain Google's self-driving car is leaps and bounds ahead of BMWs. Particularly, his BMW demo occurred on the highway, not city streets. Conditions on the highway are far more predictable, there are no turning choices to make (just follow the road!), and no pedestrians. BMW also doesn't seem to be interested in self-driving on city streets. FTA: 'He said the company aims to be “one of the first in the world” to introduce highway autonomy.'