4 ms·

Google's LIDAR builds a 3D 1cm-resolution map of the world around it in realtime as it drives which is then compared to a 3D map of the route it received from G

Google's LIDAR builds a 3D 1cm-resolution map of the world around it in realtime as it drives which is then compared to a 3D map of the route it received from Google when the trip started. The downloaded route has been manually processed to include data about where signage is (precisely, in 3 dimensions, so the car knows where to find a stoplight without having to continually hunt), which routes it can take and at what speeds, exactly where the lanes are, rules of the road, etc. The map also allows the car to know where it exists in the world to the accuracy of a centimeter, and would enable things like navigation of parking lots and garages. I would consider having to build such a thing for the entire world to be a "big data" problem.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
True; yet no human driver works like this. Humans respond to changes in the environment dynamically. Wind blow down the sign? Check for environmental clues - "Hey! I can see that's University Ave over there, this must be my exit". Traffic light out/obscured? Look at what the other cars are doing and recover. Pickup parked on the curb, partially blocking the right lane? Span lanes, and expect others in traffic to give you some leeway. Open-loop driving is a terrifying idea. Not because it wont work 99% of the time; but because it will fail catastrophically 1% of the time which is way, way too often.
threeseed 12y ago
Which is Google's solution. But everything we've read today is that the big car companies are not using this approach. They are relying far more on the car alone to make decisions: http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/02/04/why-google-will-lose-in-driverless-cars-and-who-will-win/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/02/04/why-...
- kyrra 12y ago
  It's because car companies don't want to take the a big bet and try to do it all at once. That's why every deal Google has tried to make with auto-makers has fell through. Google wants to rush to the finish line and create a fully self-driving car. But the time-frame to be able to deliver that is fairly unknown due to a number of issues. Auto-makers want to do smaller R&D projects that they can deliver to consumers within a few years of start (instead of a decade+). Things like adaptive cruise control or self-braking. These are things that were just a few years of R&D and are shipping now. They are different paths to the same goal. We don't know the outcome yet, Google or the auto-makers may get there first. But we do know that auto-makers will have sellable features in the mean time while Google just has pretty marketing videos and demos. What Google is bringing (that the article mentions) is the discussion about fully self-driving cars. This discussions means laws are being passed to facilitate the technology. It also means that the NTSB, insurance companies, and others involved in the auto industry are talking about the impacts of what a self-driving car means within our current system. So hopefully by the time they arrive, the rules and laws will be caught up with it. It also means consumers are talking about it and becoming aware of the possibility, which helps motivate others to work on the same projects. It may also mean that consumers are less wary of the technology when it actually does arrive.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago

True; yet no human driver works like this. Humans respond to changes in the environment dynamically. Wind blow down the sign? Check for environmental clues - "Hey! I can see that's University Ave over there, this must be my exit". Traffic light out/obscured? Look at what the other cars are doing and recover. Pickup parked on the curb, partially blocking the right lane? Span lanes, and expect others in traffic to give you some leeway. Open-loop driving is a terrifying idea. Not because it wont work 99% of the time; but because it will fail catastrophically 1% of the time which is way, way too often.

threeseed 12y ago

Which is Google's solution. But everything we've read today is that the big car companies are not using this approach. They are relying far more on the car alone to make decisions: http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/02/04/why-google-will-lose-in-driverless-cars-and-who-will-win/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/02/04/why-...

kyrra 12y ago
It's because car companies don't want to take the a big bet and try to do it all at once. That's why every deal Google has tried to make with auto-makers has fell through. Google wants to rush to the finish line and create a fully self-driving car. But the time-frame to be able to deliver that is fairly unknown due to a number of issues. Auto-makers want to do smaller R&D projects that they can deliver to consumers within a few years of start (instead of a decade+). Things like adaptive cruise control or self-braking. These are things that were just a few years of R&D and are shipping now. They are different paths to the same goal. We don't know the outcome yet, Google or the auto-makers may get there first. But we do know that auto-makers will have sellable features in the mean time while Google just has pretty marketing videos and demos. What Google is bringing (that the article mentions) is the discussion about fully self-driving cars. This discussions means laws are being passed to facilitate the technology. It also means that the NTSB, insurance companies, and others involved in the auto industry are talking about the impacts of what a self-driving car means within our current system. So hopefully by the time they arrive, the rules and laws will be caught up with it. It also means consumers are talking about it and becoming aware of the possibility, which helps motivate others to work on the same projects. It may also mean that consumers are less wary of the technology when it actually does arrive.