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Self-Parking Car Available In Japan
sinjayde writes "Yahoo!/Reuters is reporting that Toyota has released a car for sale in Japan that is able to park itself: 'Toyota's new hybrid gasoline-electric Prius sedan uses electrically operated power steering and sensors that help guide the car when reversing into parking spaces.'" No need to rely on the reverse parking formula anymore?
In Soviet Russia, car parks you!
you still gonna do some work here, since it only helps you back in. so, if you hit the car next to you, dont blame it on the car (like you normally do)!!
what happens when we forget how to park cars ourselves? technology is good, but people are getting too darn lazy these days. is parking really that hard? survey says: only for old people
1. buy car that can park it self
2. sell driving lesson school for people who are afraid to parallel park on driving test. with the promise they can use car on the test.
3. ????
4. profit.
Will your insurance company pick it up if you (I mean it) damages another car?
In the US, these have to pass some rigorous gov't inspection and testing before they are allowed on the road. I don't think I want the liability.
Is parking really that hard? Are people really that stupid and lazy? Don't answer that. Can I get a robot to feed me my cereal in the morning?
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
Now find me a car that can FIND parking by itself. That I will pay money for.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
What happens when the system crashes? :)
Here is the BBC's take on the same story.
The technology for this was shown off months ago - I saw the story. I am glad it is finally being released to the public.
Thanks for that. 'Cause you know Yahoo gets /.ed every time.
- ebh
This is not new. I've seen a similar system nearly 12 years ago used by a handicapped photographer at my high school. His car was retrofitted with a very similar system that would park the car by itself.
really enjoy driving anymore as it is, and with most major metros (and smaller metros as well) experiencing some level of gridlock, I drive as little as possible in areas where this would be of any real use. I know we are talking about a car company, but I would rather see this kind of effort go in to public transportation/mass transit.
Robots to auto-post to Slashdot?
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
I'm more impressed by the fact that the engine in the new prius is now 78 horsepower(it used to be 70 hp) and the motor is 50kW/67hp (it used to be 44 hp).
Toyota did the right thing. The new prius is bigger than the old one (now a midsize, not a compact), has fewer emissions, more horsepower, and accelerates faster. Now, if they could only make it cheaper, too....
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
I can imagine a Beowulf cluster of these. It must look exactly like rush hour.
Go hug some trees.
Unfortunately merging is one of the maneuvers that requires the most communication; in busy traffic you really have to negotiate with the other people on the road--signal and move over a little, watch to see if the approaching driver acknowledges you, and then, depending on the reaction, either move over a little more or retreat and wait for the next gap.
Exactly the sort of procedure I'd imagine to be most difficult to automate....
--Bruce Fields
Be carefull if you want to import one, in Japan they drive on the left hand side.
I imagine when you try to autopark in a right hand side country it will park in the middle of the road instead of the sidewalk.
A car that continuously drives itself around the block, and avoids the need for parking. (Or parking tickets) Paying for the extra fuel is probabably cheaper that hourly parking in most major cities, and certainly would be in Japan.
My rights don't need management.
The freeway you're talking about is Interstate 15 near San Diego, CA. They built a single lane, multi-mile segment on the inside median, with magnets under the road every 100'. The car would be programed to follow the magnets and make course corrections. There were also ultrasonic sensors on the front and back. The demo had 3 cars at 100mph, 10' apart with the system engaged.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
On the front was a picture of a woman trying to parallel park, crunching into all the cars around her. The title was "Why women can't drive..."
:)
on the inside..
Because men will tell them this is 6 inches:
--> ==== <--
Needless to say it wasn't quite the punchline I was expecting
no comment
"Enough of these rubbish do-dads that frankly, no good driver would ever need."
Traction control and anti-lock brakes both can accomplish feats that the best driver on the planet Earth couldn't accomplish, given that they are modulating their input thousands of times per second, absolutely optimizing power/braking and acceleration. They aren't necessities, and you could approximate them, but don't fool yourself into thinking that you could do a better job. If you claim otherwise, then I'd suggest that you should have relay wires installed in your dash to let you handle the spark timing yourself as well.
Where technology has just finally offered a better choice is in transmissions: Until recently the "standard" was always the superior driving choice, as the automatic options were hydraulic circuitry turds often with 3 gears. Now there are continuously variable automatic transmissions that achieve the absolute perfect coupling between power plant and road surface all of the time. Alternately the computer controlled 5 or 6 speed automatics are quite extraordinary now as well.
Get front wheel drive manual car with a very very good handbrake.
Head towards the parking spot at a fair speed, as perpendicular to the spot as you can. Swerve car and pull handbrake and then brake and counter steer so that you neatly skid and slide in sideways.
With this method you can park in a spot that's practically the same length as your car - just depends on how accurate you are.
Getting out requires a bit more space - the length of the space must be slightly more than the diagonal length of your car. Pull handbrake to max, turn steering wheel max (to lock) towards side you want to exit from. Stomp on clutch, red line engine, release clutch, burn rubber and gradually spin car out of space.
Not recommended in uncontrolled environments.
I love the Hybrid car philosophy, it is a step away from gas-guzzling SUV's. This is a great incentive for people to buy a Prius over another car too, and the body on the new models look alot better than the older ones. My friends dad has a Prius, and it drives fast, and it rides ALOT more smooth than a traditional car. I just don't know why this idea was never embrassed before. Also, how come we don't have cars that can drive themself on the interstate? It doesn't seem like it would be hard at all, since they could just implement sensors into an interstate quite simply since it is all managed by the government, an open standard could be created by the Govt, and all the car companies could follow.
Sig: I stole this sig.