09-16-2016, 01:14 PM
(09-16-2016, 04:26 AM)pbrower2a Wrote:(09-15-2016, 07:54 PM)Dan Wrote: http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/201...any-speed/
Quote:In response to a high-profile crash that killed a Tesla driver, CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company will upgrade its Autopilot function. But will a simple upgrade do the job? While the race to produce fully autonomous vehicles is being breathlessly heralded by the media, vast cost, legal, and security obstacles remain. More importantly, the fundamental limitations of AI technology will make the journey from semiautonomous to fully autonomous much more difficult than most people realize.
The race to bring autonomous vehicles into commercial production has accelerated. In March, GM bought self-driving startup Cruise Automation for $1 billion. In May, Toyota and Uber joined forces, Apple invested $1 billion into Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing, and Google partnered with Fiat Chrysler. Uber, meanwhile, has rolled out a pilot program to test self-driving cars in Pittsburgh. Google is even determined to create a car without a steering wheel or pedals. These players are betting heavily on transforming the $5.4 trillion transportation services market. While Tesla proclaims that it will have autonomous vehicles commercially available by 2018, BMW is planning for 2021...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/201...any-speed/
We can say all we want about crashes involving the lives of persons in the car. but what of collisions with pedestrians? In driver's training I was told "Stop for a ball going into the road" because such indicated that a child was likely to run thoughtlessly into the street to retrieve it. How will the car respond to that? Add to that, there will be drunks stumbling about into the street into the path of an oncoming car.
Some four-legged pedestrians pose their own hazards. You absolutely do not want to hit a pig (it will roll your car), or such heavy high-profile animals as cattle, horses, or elk that might be thrown into the windshield and hence the passenger compartment. A raccoon or a woodchuck? If it is thrust into the engine compartment it can do great harm to the engine compartment. Panic stops are potentially dangerous...
I once hit a 100 pound dog. I was about 2 blocks from my house going about 15 miles per hour in a residential area when a huge dog bounded into my car side. I was driving a little Toyota Tercel at the time (roughly the size of today's Yaris). I was horrified and so was the owner, whose dog had run loose from the house. As it turned out, the dog was fine, my car had a dent, the owner apologized profusely, and she had their insurance pay for the dent to be fixed! What a strange incident!