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GM Claims Advanced Cruise Control By 2008

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the more-time-to-play-games dept.

pavelvp writes "Economist is reporting that General Motors is working on the prototype of the self-driving car. From the article, "The car uses updated technology combined with several existing innovations and, according to the manufacturer, could be in production by 2008. But, while the technology takes some of the boring bits out of driving, it falls far short of an automatic taxi service and, anyway, various legal, technical and social barriers to its introduction remain.""

3 of 425 comments (clear)

  1. Good job catching up GM by Critical_ · · Score: 3, Informative

    Mercedes has had their automatic cruise control now for over 5 years. It only applies about 10-15% of braking power and is available in all their upper end cars. With the new S-Class coming in December, the new version can fully stop the car and bring it back up to speed on its own. So where is the innovation? Mercedes has been a tech leader in cars for as far back as I can think. ABS, Stability control, Airbags, etc are all Mercedes innovations which they allow other car companies to use.

  2. Actually by Critical_ · · Score: 3, Informative

    Chrysler is OWNED BY Mercedes.

  3. Automatic driving is coming, but not this way by Animats · · Score: 3, Informative
    This "adaptive cruise control" stuff is scary. The basic idea is to have a lateral control system that keeps in lane, and a longitudinal control system that prevents tailgating. This is good enough for the driver to fall asleep, but not good enough to handle even minor emergency situations.

    Experience with ABS systems is instructive. ABS systems definitely improve braking, but don't reduce accidents. Drivers with ABS use their shorter stopping distance to follow more closely, cancelling out the safety benefits.

    I run one of the DARPA Grand Challenge teams, which requires somewhat better technology. The current Grand Challenge technology is clunky (everybody has huge, mechanically scanned LIDAR devices or weak vision systems), but true solid state eye-safe outdoor 3D LIDAR imaging devices are just becoming available. With that technology, doing this right is within reach.