Self drive cars

[oneofsix]

This (http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/7732009/California-approves-self-driving-cars) could get interesting. You knew it was coming now the first authority has approved their use on the roads. Will the car see you?

[Rcktfsh]

This (http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/7732009/California-approves-self-driving-cars) Will the car see you?

Probably more likely too than the idiot driven ones currently on the roads.

[oneofsix]

Probably more likely too than the idiot driven ones currently on the roads.

That would be the self same idiots that wouldn't trust the car :facepalm:
Wonder how well the sensors age? I presume they can pick up pedestrians and bicycles so we should be ok :eek:

[george formby]

That would be the self same idiots that wouldn't trust the car :facepalm:
Wonder how well the sensors age? I presume they can pick up pedestrians and bicycles so we should be ok :eek:

It's comin, personally I think it's great. I would guess the vehicles will end up along the lines of Aerospace standard with equally rigorous maintenance schedules. If the driver is blameless in an accident because he ain't driving, liability will fall on the manufacturer so all the systems will be A1 & the vehicles will probably share info so they can "see" a lot further ahead.
Even better, the layout of the vehicles is endless, no more steering wheel, pedals, drivers seat etc. You could sleep all the way to work, while queuing on the motorway. Drink all the way home, give the secretary one while your "dropping her off". Stay in bed & let the car take the kids to school. Not be to long before they become mobile apartments.

[merv]

Should result in less traffic jams too because they could be programmed to flow along kind of like fluid down pipes so they would properly merge like zips at junctions etc unlike the human who must bunch up to stop the other person getting an advantage resulting in huge hold ups at merges.

[Haggis2]

Then they'll revolt,kill us all and take over the world....

Or not.....

[george formby]

Should result in less traffic jams too because they could be programmed to flow along kind of like fluid down pipes so they would properly merge like zips at junctions etc unlike the human who must bunch up to stop the other person getting an advantage resulting in huge hold ups at merges.

VW have trialled technology to achieve this with great success.

No doubt it will be a long time before we see them on the open road, particularly somewhere as sinuous & under funded as Un Zud but I can see some cities being very keen to adopt this kind of technology to combat congestion & with electrickery vehicles, pollution. Automated credit card taxis I would bet.

[george formby]

Then they'll revolt,kill us all and take over the world....

Or not.....

As long as mine has a beer fridge, pizza oven & an espresso machine I don't care.

[oneofsix]

As long as mine has a beer fridge, pizza oven & an espresso machine I don't care.

You are going to fit all that on your bike? :scratch:

[merv]

As long as mine has a beer fridge, pizza oven & an espresso machine I don't care.

... and a sofa surely with a big screen TV?

[george formby]

You are going to fit all that on your bike? :scratch:


... and a sofa surely with a big screen TV?

GS's have never appealed....
And yes, entertainment centre too, possibly a futon for lounging & dozing.

[Maha]

Probable target market will be female and will greatly help in alot of cases.....

[george formby]

Probable target market will be female and will greatly help in alot of cases.....

Well, not having to drive will allow more time for lippie application, txting, chocolate & sudoku. Parking spaces will be all the same size too.

[Maha]

Well, not having to drive will allow more time for lippie application, txting, chocolate & sudoku. Parking spaces will be all the same size too.

Not all at once....thats asking to much....:rolleyes:

[Scuba_Steve]

It's comin, personally I think it's great. I would guess the vehicles will end up along the lines of Aerospace standard with equally rigorous maintenance schedules. If the driver is blameless in an accident because he ain't driving, liability will fall on the manufacturer so all the systems will be A1 & the vehicles will probably share info so they can "see" a lot further ahead.
Even better, the layout of the vehicles is endless, no more steering wheel, pedals, drivers seat etc. You could sleep all the way to work, while queuing on the motorway. Drink all the way home, give the secretary one while your "dropping her off". Stay in bed & let the car take the kids to school. Not be to long before they become mobile apartments.

and soon enough prices would drop along with dedicated marketing to kids with spongebob & barbie cars (cause the car drives itself why limit them to just adults?), course all this will require major law changes which is where we all must be careful what we wish for.
I think done properly we could have a licence test that actually means you know how to drive not just you have enough $$$ for one, failing or by-passing that you have self-drive car, brilliant for driving your drunk ass home, driving you to works as you pack on the makeup, drink your coffee & talk shit no-one care about on your smartphone. Problem is the dictators that be will probably (once all is confirmed safe with them) dictate that everyone shall be forced to have one & bikes will be among the 1st vehicles outlawed... Doom & gloom alright, but give it 50yrs & well see if I'm too far wrong

[george formby]

Ha, I concur Scuba Steve. On the brightside, driving all night to the track will be very comfortable & you will wake up fresh on arrival.

Don't worry too much, though. We shan't be here to see it become reality. Many decades of meat controlled internal combustion ahead of us.

[pzkpfw]

If the motorways are full of self-driving cars, they probably won't want self-controlled bikes mixed in.

The nice orderly predictable flow would be upset by the bikes weaving between lanes or lane splitting.

I can foresee a time when all transport is computer controlled and bikes etc are gone.

[oneofsix]

If the motorways are full of self-driving cars, they probably won't want self-controlled bikes mixed in.

The nice orderly predictable flow would be upset by the bikes weaving between lanes or lane splitting.

I can foresee a time when all transport is computer controlled and bikes etc are gone.

Love the way you used self-driving and self-controlled to mean opposite things.

As long as the cars can adjust for the bikes then these things could make riding easier as their actions will be more predictable.

[Road kill]

They could make big ones an call them,,,,,, buss's an trains.

Next thing you know,,,,,,public transport.

I mean they might as well,,self driving cars sound about as much fun as riding the bus,plus you could spend your time on the new improved public transport looking for seth efrikens to mug,thus killing the boredom factor.

Future sure looks interesting for the new age commuter<_<

[awa355]

Soon there will be,
a forward sensing unit built into bike headlights that access the road/corner/traffic ahead, and adjust the bikes speed to a 'safe' speed.
An advancement on this will be an upgrade to reconize adverse weather, known to increase the risk of motorcycle accidents, so will either limit the machines speed, or block the engine from starting.

Also on the horizon, is a chip embedded into the helmet chin piece that detects if the rider has been drinking, and thus immobillises the engine.

A micro chip built into the Hi Viz vest that has to log in to the bikes computer, in order to engage the gearbox.


Anything I've missed??

[oneofsix]

They could make big ones an call them,,,,,, buss's an trains.

Next thing you know,,,,,,public transport.

I mean they might as well,,self driving cars sound about as much fun as riding the bus,plus you could spend your time on the new improved public transport looking for seth efrikens to mug,thus killing the boredom factor.

Future sure looks interesting for the new age commuter<_<

Not everyone that takes their car does so because they want to drive, some of them want the independence of route, time of travel and goods transport. Therefore self-driving cars would suit these.

[oneofsix]

Soon there will be,
a forward sensing unit built into bike headlights that access the road/corner/traffic ahead, and adjust the bikes speed to a 'safe' speed.
An advancement on this will be an upgrade to reconize adverse weather, known to increase the risk of motorcycle accidents, so will either limit the machines speed, or block the engine from starting.

Also on the horizon, is a chip embedded into the helmet chin piece that detects if the rider has been drinking, and thus immobillises the engine.

A micro chip built into the Hi Viz vest that has to log in to the bikes computer, in order to engage the gearbox.


Anything I've missed??

Gets harder with the bike doesn't it? What if the forward facing sensor decides the bike needs to slow down to avoid something ahead but you have lent over for to go around it. The calculation on whether or not to slow down or let the rider go round it get more complicated and as the rider still has some control of the bike and humans are unpredictable. The computer control could then end up as another danger factor.

[Akzle]

It's comin, personally I think it's great. I would guess the vehicles will end up along the lines of Aerospace standard with equally rigorous maintenance schedules. If the driver is blameless in an accident because he ain't driving, liability will fall on the manufacturer so all the systems will be A1 & the vehicles will probably share info so they can "see" a lot further ahead.
Even better, the layout of the vehicles is endless, no more steering wheel, pedals, drivers seat etc. You could sleep all the way to work, while queuing on the motorway. Drink all the way home, give the secretary one while your "dropping her off". Stay in bed & let the car take the kids to school. Not be to long before they become mobile apartments.

that sounds so profitable...
(i'll stick the the handlebars or steering wheel...)

[mashman]

Gets harder with the bike doesn't it? What if the forward facing sensor decides the bike needs to slow down to avoid something ahead but you have lent over for to go around it. The calculation on whether or not to slow down or let the rider go round it get more complicated and as the rider still has some control of the bike and humans are unpredictable. The computer control could then end up as another danger factor.

Don't worry about it, your safety stabilizers will solve that for ya... and to counteract you going one way and the bike going the other, the safety should harness will shorten on one side and pull you in the same direction as the bike. Easy peasy

[oneofsix]

Don't worry about it, your safety stabilizers will solve that for ya... and to counteract you going one way and the bike going the other, the safety should harness will shorten on one side and pull you in the same direction as the bike. Easy peasy

And of course the protective cage the harness is attached to will stop you getting hurt should something, like an animal, hits you. Add one or more wheels for the stabilizers to work with. <_<

[bogan]

:yawn: let me know when they start forging them in the white heat of racing. With no occupant safety concerns a demo derby race could see speeds in excess of 200kmhr, albeit briefly :laugh:

[mashman]

And of course the protective cage the harness is attached to will stop you getting hurt should something, like an animal, hits you. Add one or more wheels for the stabilizers to work with. <_<

Cage, cage... wouldn't that be just like being in one of them car things that still see the vast majority of deaths on NZ's roads each year irrespective of safety features? Perhaps a dead mans switch activated full body foam armor suit for them motorcycle types. Although, would that encourage people to crash more often?

[madandy]

Surely They'll integrate into society more slowly than electric cars so I think Motorcycles and our enjoyment of them is safe for a couple of generations yet.
A brilliant and predictable future for large cities' commuter hotspots but still manufactures of these devices will sell millions (eventually) while city planners fail to design new residential zones for public transport effectivness...

[pzkpfw]

Love the way you used self-driving and self-controlled to mean opposite things.

As long as the cars can adjust for the bikes then these things could make riding easier as their actions will be more predictable.

Actually I just didn't want to use "self-driving" in the motorbike context, to stop someone complaining about usage of "driving" vs "riding".

And while the cars will be able to adjust for bikes, I don't think the "authorities" will want them to have to. After all, if the cars are all self-driving and because of that there are fewer crashes (and less cost to the nation) but self-controlled bikes still crash (perhaps causing "innocent" cars to crash too) - they'll add two and two.

I'm not talking tommorrow, but it'll come one day.

[Scuba_Steve]

Surely They'll integrate into society more slowly than electric cars so I think Motorcycles and our enjoyment of them is safe for a couple of generations yet.
A brilliant and predictable future for large cities' commuter hotspots but still manufactures of these devices will sell millions (eventually) while city planners fail to design new residential zones for public transport effectivness...

Na I think we'll see them integrate much faster, electric cars are already post 100yrs & still not integrated. I expect to see self drive much sooner than that

[george formby]

that sounds so profitable...
(i'll stick the the handlebars or steering wheel...)

Yup. Be a few quid in it.

No doubt as it gets closer we will see a similar fight for domination & control as we have with betamax & vhs, Cd v's lazerdisc, Apple v's Microsoft etc.

Thinking about that it all turns ugly, MS controlled vehicles will keep "crashing" & keep asking do you really, really want to do that & will take forever to start up. The Apples will be quick but you can only charge them at a few places & will be very expensive, compulsory i-tunes entertainment in car will cost a fortune too. Judging by the new maps they will always be getting lost too.

[oneofsix]

Na I think we'll see them integrate much faster, electric cars are already post 100yrs & still not integrated. I expect to see self drive much sooner than that

Some of the first cars were electric so that is a bit like bringing back the steamer, however self-driving cars will be seen as an extension of the automatic and cruise control. In the case of the poster car for the self-driving change is also Toyota Prius so they are mixing it with the semi-electric cars.


Yup. Be a few quid in it.

No doubt as it gets closer we will see a similar fight for domination & control as we have with betamax & vhs, Cd v's lazerdisc, Apple v's Microsoft etc.

Thinking about that it all turns ugly, MS controlled vehicles will keep "crashing" & keep asking do you really, really want to do that & will take forever to start up. The Apples will be quick but you can only charge them at a few places & will be very expensive, compulsory i-tunes entertainment in car will cost a fortune too. Judging by the new maps they will always be getting lost too.

Its not like Google maps are ever wrong - yeah right, just that they don't put things like Dunedin Airport in the Octagon, although Google might put a dive shop in the middle of a residential hill or a store in the wrong suburb.

Does raise the question of map updates, the road used to turn here to cross a bridge but now goes straight through and the bridge has been removed. :doh:

[madandy]

Na I think we'll see them integrate much faster, electric cars are already post 100yrs & still not integrated. I expect to see self drive much sooner than that

Battery technology has recently enabled electric cars to gain some popularity and I include Hybrids in the electric car genre, and 'range extenders'.

I really dont see the new car buying public jumping into self drivers any faster than the eco/hybrid/electrickery boxes already available, particularly outside major US/European centres.

bah, fuggit you're probably right. the poor sods will probably jump at the change to delay the beginning of each day's grind with a 30 min kip till some 'bot wakes 'em up at the end of their commute:sleep: