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Self-Parking Cars Coming To U.S.
Rio writes "Vehicles that are able to parallel park themselves while drivers sit and relax behind the wheel are coming to the United States, according to a Local 6 News report. New Toyota hybrid cars are now available in Britain with a $700 "parking assist" option. Local 6 news showed video of a driver sitting and allowing the car's steering wheel to turn on its own as it pulled into a tight parking spot on a London street. The reporter never touched the wheel as the car parked itself.Toyota says expect to see the technology pop up in the U.S. soon." Here is our previous coverage of their release in Japan.
Now, I can relax and not have to worry about learning how to parallel park in the city.
a tight parking spot You must be joking - you could fit a Hummer in that spot.
So what happens when a maniac driving too fast blocks the path of travel?
I can finally move to a big city.
I'm surprised Toyota's insurers are allowing this. I imagine that every person who gets touched by one of those things moving on its own will sue for $millions.
dom
Smarter cars will just make dumber drivers.
Now my kids won't need drivers ed, and I'll save a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to....
Now if the car can make a 3-point turn, it could pass a driver's test.
The Dude abides.
This has been available for several years now in Japan and other non-US markets. The reason why Toyota didn't release this tech in the US was fear of liability lawsuits in the US' sue-happy culture if something went wrong. Have they changed their stance on this?
-- Samir Gupta, Ph. D. Head, New Technology Research Group, Nintendo Co. Ltd., Kyoto, Japan.
Self-posting stories coming to Slashdot.
This involves the finely-tuned process of randomly selecting an article from two days ago, changing a few words around, and clicking "Submit."
Come to think of it, this has been going on for quite some time now.
Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
So if this system screws up, mis-calculates the available space and dents a ferrari, is toyota going to pony up?
How soon will there be legal ads on TV asking if you have been injured by a self-parking car?
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
But is it smart enough to move itself when it senses the parking enforcement officer approaching with a ticket.
on driving tests to keep the completely brain-dead off the road will be eliminated. I hope examiners will demand that this feature be turned off for testing.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
Figuring out how to parallel park is a right of passage worth preserving. Just like learning to spell parallel.
This is great and can't possibly get to the U.S. fast enough, but what it really needs to have is the feature for reversing the process so people can get out of parking spots (maybe it does, can't view the video on this computer). Any parking spot. I can't count how many times I've seen a driver so damn eager to get on the cell phone as soon as he gets in the car that he can't get out of the parking spot without tying up street traffic or parking lot traffic while driving with one arm and half a brain, 'cause god forbid one should put that stupid phone down and drive.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
http://m90.org/index.php?id=13279
Shows a BMW parking itself
you could land a jumbo fscking jet in that tight spot
fifteen jugglers, five believers
Will these new hybrids toast my bread for breakfast and hold my cell phone for me while I'm behind the wheel too?
Not the flying cars that I was promised, but it's a start.
If you think
Technology is supporting my drinking habit, first a beer fetching robot, and now a car that will park itself if im to drunk! w00t.
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.
Now if this thing will have on board RFID to the parking meter or somehow has an arm to put quarters into the meter will be perfect.
In America, cars parallel park you.
In Soviet Russia, you parallel park cars!
Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
I agree about the fart machines. I guess it is supposed to sound powerful, but it doesn't. My friend used to drive a '69 Oldsmobile with a bored-out 455 in it. That car had power: a deep, rich rumble. You can't compare that to some kid with an exhaust pipe farting down the road.
My way back has been erased.
funny...most "jap" cars are assembled in the states now. and seriously, what exactly are you compensating for? perhaps a lingering /. addiction.....
Agree. There will have cars that will slow down or speed up to keep pace with the trafic. Then they will have cars that stay in their own lane automatically, cars that warn the driver if there is a person behind when backing up. All this means is that there will be more and more reliance on software to keep people's lives safe. And if companies will want to cut corners here and there and will just install Windows or Linux on the computer they won't stay business for long. Even Linux is not good enough (/ducks, waiting for /.-ers for through rocks or just really heavy heatsinks, or 80s hard drives). Granted software is already flying thousands of people over the Atlantic "pond" every day, and is flying stuff to Mars. But somehow I see the KIA executives saying "Hmm, we need good software, should we license INTEGRITY/178 or we could save money and just install Windows, heck we all know how to use Windows..."
Now if these cars would just park themselves far from where they drop me off, we can get rid of street parking in Manhattan. The cars can park themselves outside the city center where parking is plentiful/cheap/free, and we can triple the capacity of our existing streets.
--
make install -not war
What I'm concerned about is what if you accidentally hit the assist switch while driving on the freeway, or if the auto-pilot device could be over-ridden, or hi-jacked, and perhaps you can lose control of your car, from some mischievous kid tampering with your on-board computer system.
Sigs are overrated.
I can't imagine myself ever using anything like that. I can park and get out of a space that is like 10cm longer than my car, sure it takes some time, but could a robot car do that? Not unless it has 90degree rotating wheels.
:) How about electronic brains, will they be allowed?
So, if you know someone who gets a car like that, would you trust that person with your car?
Will this feature be allowed in driving tests?
You can't handle the truth.
Parking is the easy part! Finding a space these days is the trick.
If someone so un-coordinated as me can do it, anyone can do it. So in the end after a week of practice and 5 years later I ended up with $200/quarter*3 quarters/year*5 years=$3000 profit.
Maybe they'll just make you sign an agreement that says you'll pay for all of their legal expenses and settlements in case someone wants to sue... and plenty of folks are stupid enough to blindly sign anything without reading it.
Self-posting comments coming to Slashdot.
This finely-tuned process involves randomly selecting a comment from two hours ago, and clicking "Submit" after changing a few words around.
This has been going on for quite some time now, come to think of it.
Finally, a car that women drivers really can drive!
Now that the car has the mechanical ability to control the steering and such, it shouldn't be so hard to supply the system with a new logic. Add in some extra cameras to watch the road, tie in the ol' gps, and you get a real smart car that drives you around. Cool.
...
And most "American" cars are assembled in Mexico and Canada.
Grandparent poster allow me to introduce you to the parent poster.
He's the idiot that thinks you should undertake him because 56 is a plenty fine cruising speed for the passing lane.
Please bitch slap him for all of us.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
This is all fine and dandy untill it hits a kid. Then who is to blame for it? The driver, the company who make the car or none of the above (which I bet the company will try to claim)?
I like muppets.
note: "rode in / drove" ... are you even old enough to remember those muscle cars? ;)
Most of the people with those 'fart machines' just put a toner on their exhaust, not really accomplishing much of all. Don't judge japanese sports cars based on how most of them look (fools with body kits, NOS stickers, and wing-size spoilers).
Though, some japanese sports cars ARE a bit better than american sports cars: Lighter bodies, higher revving engines, and better handling. Try comparing the handling and acceleration of, say, a '93 civic hatchback with an integra GSR engine swap (and all that entails) to a corvette, and you'll understand.
Compare:
61 Stingray to a 2002 subaru impreza wrx, and you see a 0-60 in 6.2 seconds compared to 5.5 seconds. Also note that the wrx has all wheel drive, including steering: when you turn the wheel a little bit, it turns all four wheels in the same direction to ease lane changes. Turn it more, and the rear wheels begin to turn in the opposite direction, allowing you to take corners much tighter. Yeah, your muscle car can get there in a straight line maybe a little faster than the WRX, but can it take a turn at 60 miles an hour without sliding?
Compare the same stingray to a mitsubishi lancer evolution VIII, and you see 6.2 seconds compared to 3.5 seconds.
In a true race, and not a flat-out drag race, I'd take a Japanese or European sports car over an American hog any day.
Not to mention, they're more reliable... 60's and 70's muscle cars sound awesome, and pack a lot of punch, but they don't hold up to the sheer technical superiority of modern Japanese cars. Don't believe for one second that the morons with ricer kits on their cars represent Japanese sports cars one bit.
you sure do invent a lot of stuff dude. according to your last few comments recently you invented self parking cars, bluetooth, screenshots, encryption....and was one of the original programmers at microsoft. I'm glad a man of your talent is now working on open source projects but please tell me - how do you do it?
what a guy
Tsk tsk. "Self-parking" is used-car-salesman talk for stalling.
Table-ized A.I.
Just a couple of quotes that seem custom-made for this discussion from an interesting review of technologies for intelligent cars in Popular Science.
And a review from Impact Labs describes some details of actual hardware and software solutions currently being developed with a goal "to be able, within the next two years, to drive from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles with 100 percent autonomy--without any human intervention whatsoever."
Amazingly public transport companies park their vehicles outside the city as well. Not many bus depots in the city centers.
Oh and taxi's also serve a similar function. I believe they paint them yellow over there instead of the normal black that civilized people use.
While your idea sounds nice it has just one small drawback. If you equip every car with it you have just doubled the traffic in and out of the city center. Your car driving you to your work and then driving itself out to a parking lot. The last thing busy cities need is more traffic.
Oh and an other version of truly "self parking" cars? Getting a ride with a co-worker. Drops me off in front of the office. All it costs is to make two cups of coffee.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Dumber drivers? Maybe, but this is still a good idea. I have an old Taurus, and I can't parallel park it for crap because, in the interest of being aerodynamic, it's completely concave up. I can't tell where the corners are. My girlfriend's boxy car is much easier for me to parallel park.
Assisted parallel parking will make it easier to have more aerodynamic cars, which will improve fuel efficiency. That's a good thing!
I could see how this would be good for some of those 15 passenger vans. Its difficult enough to see whats behind you when you are backing up, much less parallel parking.
...in automobile!
for a minute there, i lost myself...
$700 for a system to self park a car they size of a postage stamp.....bah....if you can't parallel park a prius you shouldn't be allowed to drive.
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
To just sit there while my car parks itself. What a novelty! I'm sure the neighbors'll be over every time I park the car just a pointin' and a grinnin' Meanwhile no money is being spent on making cars cleaner. No, first we need a car that parks itself. This just shows where our priorities are as a nation. Our priorities are still with money and status (nice car) rather than the impending climatic disaster. I think the self-parking car is a STUPID idea.
+5 Funny
Damit where are my mod points when I need them!
You're talking to a native New Yorker, so let me clarify the reality to royal subjects:
Subways don't stop at your building, though mine does have a station in the basement. Subways also don't have a sunroof, swing by your girlfriend's place, wait outside the deli. They do have lots of strangers, often rude and even smelly. They make you wait for up to half an hour in the middle of the night. And you can't race the other guy.
Taxis usually don't let you race the other guy, either. They often come with rude and even smelly strangers, who often don't go the way you want. And they cost more per year than purchasing or owning a car. You can't keep your CDs in them, or an umbrella in the trunk. And they make you wait a long time in rush hour, the middle of the night, and when it's raining - and you without your umbrella.
BTW, NYC has plenty of bus depots in the city center - Manhattan. And the extra traffic going elsewhere than the very center, midtown Manhattan, is much less congesting than the double/triple parking for un/loading passengers/cargo.
So I don't know what public transport you're referring to. London's traffic is nothing compared to Manhattan's, but it would also be less congested with private cars parking themselves in garages instead of on the streets. Though perhaps the "slave" you're referring to driving you is something available to a monarch without even making the coffee. No wonder you covet one of your own, and think the principle must be universal.
--
make install -not war
Self-reading stories. Then I can finally get my ass out of this chair and go outside or something.
...the suburbanites will stop taking up two spaces by parking 5 feet from the car in front of them.
...self-crashing, too, I bet. :)
The law _requires_ all drivers to keep right unless they are engaged in passing other traffic.
If you want to drive at 5 over the limit, that's fine.
But you have NO right, nor any business even trying, to keep other drivers from driving faster than you do.
Drivers who drive like you do make the roads less safe because they impede the normal flow of traffic and contribute to road rage.
I bet you're a lot of fun at parties ( you're the guy who talks about the latest Toyota Camry, and how reliable it is, according to Consumer Reports,
while people behind you roll their eyes, and all the hot chicks wonder who invited a loser like you ).
Be a man, for once in your miserable passive-aggressive existence, and get the fuck out of the way of faster drivers.
The one point of this story is that the technology is NOT developed in the US, and available to the rest of the world but NOT the US.
So why is the story flagged as US Technology?
And why are comments treating this as if it were available in the US?
This looks like an example of the usual response of Americans when they find something technical they have not developed. They produce history textbooks and a set of Hollywood films which claim it was all really American, and some minor backwoods hack, who they can associate with the idea, is boosted into the world authority and sole developer of the concept. Look at what they did with the Wright Brothers!
Driving while not holding the steering wheel? Not even with one hand? You get to contribute to the police department budget.
Nonsense. I don't know what cities you are thinking of, but in the cities I have worked in (Chicago, New York, Philadelphia) cars are not a necessity. They have this thing they call the subway which reaches far out into the suburbs. If you work in the city, you don't even have to live there to avoid using a car.
I don't know how much I can generalize your attitudes from one hyperbolic aside, but promulgating the attitude that cars are a "necessity" promotes a very lazy approach to our transportation needs. It is a mindset that prevents changes to our road policy that could benefit other transportation modes, like walking, cycling, buses, subway, light rail.
For example, free street parking is viewed in some towns (and even some cities!) as a public right. At the very least, the ability to park on the street for a fee (parking meter) in central areas is expected. But in some of those areas, sidewalks for pedestrians and lanes for bicycles are ignored. Apparently everyone drives, but nobody walks!
What's funny (strange, not humorous) about this is how quickly people (not you, necessarily, but I want to make a point) can jump from the the idea that "roads should be paid for by public funds" because they are used by "everyone" to the idea "mass transit should be paid for by the users" because only the users really benefit. I am reminded of a speech I heard by someone from Amtrak defending himself from Congress over the amount of public funding they receive. He pointed out that truckers and air lines get free roads and signaling, paid for by public funds. The argument that Amtrak should compete on a level playing field is apropos, but it is not an argument that would *reduce* public funding of rail traffic.
Back to your statement: why would you suggest that working in a city requires a car, when it seems more likely that working in rural areas requires a car. In cities, whether you live there or in a suburb, a car seems more like a convenience (a big one, granted) then a necessity.
I doubt many states still have the "passing lane" concept on the books anymore.
We now have left entrances, left exits, HOV lanes...
Plus it is horribly wasteful. Consider a highway with two lanes on each side. People in the right lane are going at the speed limit already. If you couldn't use the left lane for travel, then you couldn't use it at all! Now, if you're going to break a law, don't complain about anybody else that _might_ be breaking a rather obsolete law. That's hipocracy.
We really can't be wasting 50% of the lanes.
Did'nt they write a song about you AC?
So it's a female tax... where are the pony femenists now?
Oh, than and that you do realize that your self-rightousness probably increases the chance of innocent drivers being hit by the people driving recklessly by now making them swerve in and out of traffic whereas if you just stayed a measly one lane over they would be less of a risk to other people on the road?
Uggh. Good catch. In this case the troll factor was pretty obvious from the text of the post, but I see that his bluetooth comment got moderated "+1 Interesting".
*Sigh*. Does this mean I have to research the commenter's posting history on every moderation? Seems excessive on a forum where (practically) no one reads TFA, and maybe even dangerous to my mod points if the majority of meta-moderators don't follow suit.
Maybe I should submit an "Ask Slashdot" post about it...
Free Manning, jail Obama.
Sheesh-- where's the geek in that? Turns you into a User.
A real geek would have a replica Dymaxion Car, dive in at right angles and swing the pointy end around.
(We miss you, R. Buckminster Fuller!)
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Tight spot or not, Shaolin training is the answer to your problems: just watch the last 10 seconds of the trailer here and learn! ;-)
My other Beowulf cluster is... er...
So...this is a posting to an international readership about new Japanese technology available in the UK and it's titled "self-parking cars coming to the US"? And it's decorated with the USA's flag? Gee, thanks! I guess nothing that happens in RestOfTheWorld matters unless it feeds the American Empire.
Well, of course muscle cars don't compare with a brand new WRX or Evo... They were made 30-40 years ago! Compare them to the japanese cars of that era, then see which one fares better in the race... (And really, how many WRX owners are out rally racing in their cars?) Given the choice, I'd much rather have the Dodge charger or Stingray 'vette... Those at least sound like cars.. Real cars have that deep rumble that sets off the alarms of lesser vehicles and pisses off the elderly...
http://www.iltalehti.fi/osastot/autot/200603234276 611_au.shtml
http://media.almamedia.fi/id/75630.wmv
http://media.almamedia.fi/id/75631.wmv
hrm, i wouldn't worry about it too much. mod points are like ops on irc...cool if you get given them but i wouldn't worry too much about it. from the fact that the posts before his claims to fame seem semi serious i think he's just trying to prove a point to a friend.
anyway, it's only the internet....allthough i of course would be interested in that ask slashdot....which would accomplish nothing i'm sure, but would be entertaining nontheless
If you failed to develop a self-parking car (since I assume this Japanese-developed system is not yours), why do you think you will be any better at Open Source projects?
And why do you think we are interested in hearing about your incompetence?
Prhaps you should just FOAD.
We aim to please...
Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
'56 Corvette. The second set of barrels on the dual carburetors don't even open until 60-70 MPH.
Will Toyota fix your kerbed/curbed alloys for free? Surely the system isn't so accurate that it doesn't sometimes scrape a wheel?
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
Well, check this out, then.
Excellent. Another 'convenience' feature which helps out people who are clearly far too STUPID to use a car.
I remeber reading an article recently that put people with high end, well kitted out cars in cars with NO driver aids and subjected them to a few tests such as skid pans and high speed maneuvres(sp?!) - the results were fairly predictable. Most were so used to the features that automatically kicked in when they did something stupid that when faced with a car that didn't have them, they had NO idea what was going on and lost control in all circumstances.
I personally feel that there needs to be more driver education and less dependence on these driver aids! I appreciate they might be important in an accident of course but not all circumstances where driver aids may be used could be classed as accidents!
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
The thing is: the driver is still responsible for what his car does. He should look if there are obstacles. He's still in charge: as soon as he hit the brakes the system stops. It's like cruise control... Nobody is going to argue that a driver putting his cruise control at 150mph isn't an idiot. Same thing here....
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
I heard they are gonna run Windows Vista, so it will be self crashing! And every 5 minutes you have to restart the motor. You will have to pay $500 a month for Windows Antivirus and antispyware or the warantee is void!
Self-parking cars, robots that fetch your beer. This is it folks - we finally made it to the FUTURE! :D
Welcome.
Self-reckless-driving cars are coming to Italy! Actually, they came many years ago, as they don't need particularly sophisticated technology. You just remove your hands from the steering wheel.
Nuffsaid
________
Don't know about his cat, but Schroedinger is definitely dead.
Currently if you hit a car, or a person, it's your responsibility and you pay for repairs, or go to court if you are sufficiently irresponsisble. And we sort of accept that's the way cars work.... now and again someone is going to stuff up and mistakes are going to be made.
But when cars start to make the decisions themselves, even if they do it much better than people and saving lives and property, then think of the legal Nightmares that car companies are bringing upon themselves.
It all becomes Toyotas Fault. They'll be sued into oblivion.
Fantastic. Now we can all hail the engulfment of the Expert System and surrender our frontal lobes because, heck, thinking is hard, and stuff. I mean, why should I even exert myself? Food should be pre-chewed for me. My entertainment simple to digest, with cue points so I know when to laugh. And if I crap my pants, I'll probably have mentally atrophied to the point where I won't care.
Morlocks and Eeloi.
wow great i wonder when this will come to india... lol not for a long time though :D
http://www.kudige.blogspot.com/
http://www.kudige.blogspot.com/
Note to self: Say nothing about any thing with an X chromosome
(-5, Flamebait)
"I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google"
actually since i know most cars in the us are already automatic gear cars theres even less interaction for the driver now. i am curious how it can be fun if you dont drive anymore? for me too much automatism with driving... be it automatic gear... or be it automatic parking takes out the fun. why not go by bus or train instead? you dont have to change gear... you dont have to park... hell you dont even have to touch a steering wheel or brake.... isnt this what the us market is screaming for?
guess we are soon at the point where the car needs the driving license.
So what if it doesn't take you as long to park your car when most of the time we're stuck in traffic anyway. What we really need is a system that will allow cars to drive themselves and that there be some overall level of coordination between them... at least on the highways. That's probably not what a lot of drivers would like to hear, but it sure would beat being stuck in traffic.
I wonder if having this feature will drop insurance rates?
This car may become a useful screening tool for governments worldwide. Surely, anyone who buys one doesn't know how to park, and therefore shouldn't have a license. Rather than tying up all those traffic police who could be better utilised actually solving crimes, now all they have to do is set up a trigger at the motor registration office that automatically cancels the license of anyone registering a self-parking car. And best of all, the fools are paying $700 for the privilege!
While you're at it, ban literacy. People's memories got worse after that pesky reading and writing was invented, they got dumber. And metal, people just got so lazy after we started using metal instead of having to *really think hard* about how to chop down trees and build our dugout canoes with stone axes.
Technological aids have always come in for criticism, and both clever and stupid people have used them to make their lives easier. It could be argued that automatic parking could save a few dents. Mind you, I'd like to see people using cars less and cycling more, full stop :-)
Until my car can move straight sideways, I'm rolling my eyes instead. :-)
Bean Bandit's Road Buster:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098202/
I think you'll find cars have "brakes", not "breaks"...
No sig today...
Park the car, Hal.
I'm sorry, Dave, but I can't do that.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
In New York State (New York City is different) it is legal to pass on the right if you can do it safely. I've looked over the traffic laws on several occassions to try and verify that passing on the right is illegal, but in NY it simply isn't unless by doing so you're creating an unsafe condition. The same is true in Minnesota.
So when driving, it's a good rule of thumb not to pass on the right, but it's probably not a bad idea to read the traffic laws of the state in which you live just so you know what is really legal and what isn't -- not just what you've heard people say.
http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html
...and that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Lexus 6? Used Off-world as slave labor, in the hazardous exploration and colonization of other planets. And parallel parking in the city.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
"around the block" is about 3K'.
I don't think you're allowed to use "K" with feet. You should have said "around the block" is around 5 furlongs.
Of course muscle cars go sideways when you turn, they have so much power that you straighten out at the end of the turn anyways. That's why they're badass! Besides, a non-original muscle car typically has tons of modern parts in it, making it handle and function much more like a modern car. A rice rocket, factory built, has a warranty, which is the one thing going for them. A muscle car is not easy to maintain, but when you take it out, it's like having your own personal parade of positive attention, that's how awesome everyone knows that they are.
stuff |
#1 who here that lives in a suburb EVER has to paralell park?
#2 more useful would be a car that could pick you up at the front of a store. take, for example, wal-mart. you can NEVER park in the front at that store. so have your car act like a valet! That would be more useful.
I went on holliday to manhatten new york and I saw americans try to parallel park 4 times, each of those 4 times they hit the car behind them.
On one occassion, the guy reversed, smacked the car behind him, then drove forward to pull his nose in and smacked the car in front of him.
This will be a god send for you.
The ultimate test for a self-driving car? The Magic Roundabout!
In the UK many cities have a 'Park & Ride' system, whereby drivers can park in cheap (or even free) car parks on the outskirts of the city, then get a bus directly into the centre.
..., I decided not to buy this feature for my new Toyota Prius (IPA/Intelligent Parking Assist), simply because it is really slow and thus is not practical. I am not a perfect driver, but I can parallel park my car if needed, and spending 2500 dollars (they only sell the IPA as a packaged deal here in The Netherlands) for IPA seems like grossly overdone.
If you'd read the article you'd know that only the steering is controlled, the driver still operates the brake pedal, so it's still up to him (or her) to control the speed of the car and watch out for obstacles.
I really don't see the point of this, since I know how to drive. I can see this fucking up driving tests in certain states that have parallel parking as one of the only behind the wheel requirements for young drivers. Some kid whose parents are loaded, drop a dime on this car, he brings it in, then boom. Really the whole idea seems stupid, I would think most city dwellars would agree. It's a nice thought but lets just make with the giant track and self automated vehicles at this point. Prevent drunkdriving (cause no one is driving), accidents, speeding, etc. If people don't want to give up control of their cars completely, they can be half auto and half manual. Manual for country and rural, and automatic for Suburbs and Cities.
Buy cars with less than 2.5 tons of weight
to drive 60 kilos of flesh through the
city. Which means: No SUVs and Off-Roaders.
Buy city cars for driving in cities.
Another bonus would be the lesser
consumption of gas and parking space.
In Soviet Russia, Car Drives You!
http://www.decorplast.ch/_borders/smart-54.JPG
o ad-%20PARIS/mom%20and%20dad%20and%20smart%20car.jp g
...and i think that was not a stupid choice. :D
http://www.duke.edu/~mpc8/pictures/Semester%20abr
http://www.arisaka.org/berlin/smart.jpg
Especially not for that parking thing
The rice racers and 60's/70's muscle cars have one thing in common.
They are annoying. There's little difference between the high pitched whiney mufflers and thundering engines of either.
The looks that you get are not of admiration, they are of anger. There's nothing that makes one's balls bigger then pissing everyone off. There's nothing gained when the thoughts of everyone "looking" at you is STFU.
Give me a BMW M5, and I'll smoke any ricer/muscle car. BTW, this is directed at the reponders to parent.
Until it backs into my motorcycle. Or over a pedestrian. I hope they make these things have a fairly obnoxious "backing up" noise, not only identifying that the computer is handling the parallel parking, but that the driver is an idiot.
sic
You know what the problem is as well as I. This car is too cool for me to park it next to that Yugo.
You can't parallel park??!!1!! OMG~>!>! IT PROBABLY TAKES YOU LIKE 30 MINUTES TO SETUP AND CPNFIGURE AN APACHE WEB SERVER!?>!>! NUBCAKES!!!
Some people can't parallel park, get over it. I, for one, think this is a fantastic innovation. If they can make it affordable, then it will be in every car in 10 years!
burrocrisy
and that would be what? Ruling by jackasses? Never has a slashdot misspelling been more apropos
just need a working parking brake. Why do you think they call it a PARKING brake?!?! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-642499665 1641918737&q=civic+parking+trick&pl=true
I recall seeing this on the telly some years ago: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/ record.asp?recordid=43594
The technique was to drive very fast up to the space, whack the handbrake on, and the car would rotate 180 degrees and skid miraculously into the tiny gap.
I, for one, would pay good money for that process to be automated.
Why can't Toyota work on more pressing automotive automation needs?
Like having the car hold the cell phone and use AI to have a conversation with the next door neighbor's wife about that BBQ that the driver is planning for the weekend? So the driver can concentrate on the damned road instead of yammering on the cell phone?
Or perhaps an automated makeup application system -- that extends from the dashboard to apply makeup to the driver's face (this could also be used to give the driver a shave). So the driver can concentrate on the damned road instead of using the rearview miror like a vanity mirror?
Oooh! How about an automated backseat babysitter/bratty-kid-slapper that tends to young and/or unruly children for the driver? So the driver can concentrate on the damned road and avoid rear-ending the person in front of them because they're doing a 180 in their front seat to berate the children they don't really know how to parent properly in the first place?
Wow -- the ideas just keep coming! Toyota could install a dropped things pickup system for the driver. When the driver drops something in the floor or seat next to him/her, the system would pick it up for them, wave it in their face, and reassure the driver that the item has not been permanently lost and doesn't require immediate attention. So the driver can concentrate on the damned road (and lights that turn green) instead of being bent over Cirque de Soleil contortionist style in his/her floorboard trying to find that "uber special" piece of paper that they just have to have right that second?
If you haven't picked up on the theme here, you probably should concentrate on the damned post and stop wondering whether to mod it down.
IronChefMorimoto
So you're that asshole sitting in the left lane doing 55mpg... Yeah news for you, people speed, get over it. The left lane's speed limit is whatever the person behind you wants to do or you get out of the way, at least in the country. In the city the existence of left hand entrances and exits mess this up to hell and back but its still a good rule of thumb.
Pete/Petri "damn, my chainsaw is clogged with 1's and 0's again." --clyde
In my town we don't need a self-parking car, we need a car that looks for a free parking spot... but that is an NP-complete problem!!
There is no such thing as a "'61 Stingray." In from 1963 to 1967 the Corvette carried the "Sting Ray" label. In 1968 the "Sting Ray" label was dropped. In 1969, the label was brought back, but changed to one word (Stingray). IIRC the last year for the Stingray label was 1977. And anyway you're talking apples and oranges, it's quite obvious that an antique car (45 years old!!), with a solid rear axle and drum brakes, cannot compete with a modern, rally inspired car. If you want to compare Japanse with American, you should choose cars from the same era.
No one got beat up more often than the mimes of the old west!
Why can't it drive itself? Allstate shows an interesting commercial where they say the only element of chance left in a car is the driver. So eliminate that last element damn it.
GPS is pretty accurate now that the military has stopped degrading signals, and collision avoidance systems use computer-vision, radar, sonar, etc. Then consider that the space shuttle uses five antiquated computers to orient itself in three dimensional space at a speed of over 17,000MPH you see that the system should be mature by now. So there really isn't any reason for us not to be able to get in a car, input our destination and sit back and relax until we get there.
Just try it on public transit first. You could eliminate one of the larger expenses that way. No driver required. But we're all deathly afraid of giving up control.
so they can learn that the left lane is for PASSING
As an Ohioan, I have to admit to finding this concept "quaint." 95% of the time I pass on the right and it's only people from other states who seem to find the concept foreign.
Keep in mind, passing on the right is a behavior that has evolved in Ohio due to several unique factors:
a.) a split speed limit (trucks 55, cars 65)
aa.) huge amounts of truck traffic, which means that the right lane has trucks and the left lane has trucks passing trucks but all of them are doing under 65
b.) aggressive law enforcement that seems focused on the left lane
c.) we're the only state which requires two lanes of traffic open during construction. on a two lane highway, that might mean using the shoulder as a traffic lane. when that occurs, trucks are forced to the left lane, because the shoulder isn't built for that weight. by virtue of that the right lane becomes the fast lane, and if you're around enough construction, you'll spend more time passing on the right than the left
I think you are thinking of Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Car. There are some videos of it here at the American Master's site, but not of it parking. Though there is one of it pulling a tight U-turn around a police officer. I do think this is the same car I saw a video of where the car came in at an angle and then turned it's rear wheel and eased it's back in to parallel park. There is a bit more info on wikipedia too. (also here and here)
Parallel parking isn't too difficult - I did it in my car all the time (I've moved to a location where I no longer need the car, public transport suits me fine and I like not having to pay all the taxes)... tight spots aren't a problem.
But along comes some asshole who turns that tight spot into an impossible spot by parking in front of / behind you without leaving enough room for you to get out comfortably. More often than not, you're not going to find the person to ask them to please move their car - or perhaps they can't anymore either. Rather than zig-zagging numerous times to edge my way out, I'd gently push the other car out of the way first - and if gently didn't work, firmly would; alarms be damned.
A system that can get you out of those -those- situations would be much more appreciated - like another commenter mentioned, those videos of cars with all four wheels turning a full 90 degrees, that's what we'd need.
The original directions forgot to include the counter-steer after you get close to the curve while continuing to back up so you're right. Merely to "slowly bring the wheel back to rest state" would leave you at 60 degrees to the curb if you followed those directions to the letter.
t unring-the wheel-a-lot-to-wiggle-closer-to-the-curb method which is a real pain.
Not only that, but if you live in Chicago (or anywhere with tight parking), you'll find that you don't have room to do it all in the one-pass method and you have to do that drive-forwards-and-backwards-several-times-while-
As for misuse turn signals, that's endemic to every age group, although the younger ends tend more towards not using them and the older ones to not turning them back off.
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
The injured might choose to make an additional claim against the car company, but it would not absolve the driver of criminal or civil liability. If nothing else, they chose to engage the system.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
For the eurpeans: a medium car in the US is a BMW 5-series, or a VW Passat.
Unless, of course, the people in the righthand lane are going even slower. If the speed limit is 65, and the righthand lane is going 60 (aged drivers, wide load, frequent righthand turns, whatever), I'm going to get into the lefthand lane and drive maybe 70. It's faster than the speed limit and I'm passing. If there's cop cars parked alongside the road monitoring things, I may even stick to 65 itself to avoid confrontation. In either case, if someone comes zooming up behind me at 90, I'm not going to stomp the accelerator or worry myself over merging into the (much slower) righthand lane just so that he can keep going that much over the limit. Although, in the case of the cop cars, I'd be tempted to let him by and serve as cop-bait...
I try to drive sensibly, and I have no problem exceeding the speed limit when it's an issue of safety (going 55 when everyone else is going 65, even if the limit is 55, is just plain dumb) but I can and will sit on the speed limit if all that's at risk is whether you'll be shaving 5 minutes off of your two hour commute.
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
Seriously. There is no way you're passing people continously for 150 miles.
If someone is sitting on your ass in the passing lane, it is because they want to pass you. Your responsibility is to pull right at the first reasonable opportunity and let them by. I don't understand why you would sit there cursing them for 150 miles instead of just letting them by.
Besides it's the smart move...the cars going faster than you make great speed trap bait if you let them by.
instead of taking 30 seconds to change lanes,
It's illegal and dangerous to pass on the right. Yes, I know it's also illegal and dangerous to speed, but I think it's more dangerous to force a speeding person to also pass on the right--now you've combined two dangers.
The rules of the road are practical. They're designed to create a relatively predictable environment--fast on the left, slower on the right. Moving right to allow someone by fits within that paradigm and maintains predictability. Forcing someone who is already going fast to move right to pass subverts the paradigm, decreases predictability, and IMO increases danger.
So please for my safety if not yours, let the asshole in the big truck by on the left.
I agree with you 100% on the parking lot speeding though.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Smarter cars will just make dumber drivers.
But we already have dumber drivers today. I think dumber drivers are the reason for the need of smarter cars.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
the link is to an amusing video of a guy in a Civic doing a little parking trick
Watch Steve McQueen parallel park his '68 Mustang in the movie "Bullit". He did it quickly, on a hill in a really cool car with a manual transmission. Then he walked away like it was no big deal. What a stud! That's how you parallel park. Who cares if it took 30 takes.
I doubt watching Tom Cruise automatically parallel park his computerized future car in Mission Impossible 8 would have quite the same effect.
No, I'm not gay.
And now with automatic parking, expect the number to rise.
all that room dedicated to one cager, you could fit at least 7 bikes in that parking space...
I prefer to park like this: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-458992726 4004935899&q=parking&pl=true
The real man's solution to parallel parking!
Click Click Bloody Click PANCAKES!
PLEASE!
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
It's for through traffic. You're a self-righteous asshole. When I was 16 and got a reckless driving ticket for driving 54 in a 25, one of they things they taught us is: You have absolutely zero legal requirement to go a single MPH over the speed limit OR move out of the left lane, if you don't want to. And I will sit there and not let you pass, as long as I am going at least 1MPH faster than the next lane. Tough shit for you.
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
On narrow streets, it creates a buffer zone between traffic and the narrow sidewalk.
Hands in my pocket
D'oh! I hate when I see that. I was going to say "You're taking your life into your own hands" and deleted part of it to say what I posted above. It should read "your life is at stake"
Hey, leave the poor F-x50 driver alone. He's got bigger (OK, littler) problems to worry about. Is it me or is Ford's entire marketing scheme:
F-150: Compensates for an inch and a half under performance.
F-150 super cab: Compensates for an inch and a half and some girth.
F-250: Compensates for two and a half inches.
F-250 super cab: Compensates for two and a half inches and some girth.
F-350 super cab: Oh, your poor wife! Or was she Loretta Bobbit?
My personal favorite trucks are the ones with "Got Dirt" stickers littering them and then the chrome all around their raised underside is in perfect, unchipped by actual off-road conditions, shape.
Of course, none of them compare to just prior to the election when I saw an "Off-Roaders For W'04" sticker... On a Nissan Sentra. Being driven by a tiny woman in her seventies. My first thought was, "Wow, that's delusional!" until I asked myself how any Bush voter could possibly be considered that way.
See, this is the problem with civilization. In a primitive society, we'd be out on the hunt, and a tiger would get you by the leg and start pulling you into the bush, and when you shouted "Aieee! Help! Help! Guys?!" we'd scratch our heads thoughtfully, remembering all the times you were a prissy rules-are-rules grouch instead of a good buddy, and then we'd all nod and say to each other: After the tiger eats, it'll be slower -- let's attack then.
Fact is, you don't know why those "assholes" are wanting to go 90 MPH past you. Could be, yes, as you suspect, they're just arrogant turds who don't give a damn about traffic safety. But at least some of them are different: there's the young man who just got a call from mom: Dad had a heart attack this morning. He's not going to make it. How soon can you get here? There's a kid right out of college who couldn't sleep last night for anxiety over the interview today, his first and probably only real shot at his dream job, overslept, and now he's only going to be on time if he flys and no shitheads (vide supra) deliberately make it hard for him. (I realize you're never late to important appointments, 'cause you walk on water and stuff. But try to imagine it.)
There's a million stories out there. You don't know which of them are wanting to pass you in a hurry. Maybe next time think about all the possibilities, and ask yourself whether, if you were forced by some curious interfering god to stop and listen, face-to-face, to the story of the person in the car trying to pass you, then no matter what that story might be, you wouldn't be at all ashamed of yourself for making your fellow man or woman's life just a smidge harder than it has to be.
In Soviet Russia Dot Slashes You.
A few days ago, I was parking my car out front of a small philly cheese steak place (Mr Spots, BG Ohio for anyone who cares, they also have one in Ann Arbor, MI, I suggest you try it sometime). It was a tight spot, I was between a Scion, and some Sedan, both at the edges of their spaces. What did I do? I backed in, I pulled forward, and was perfectly parked. Some college student watched me do my flawless execution of the mythical ordeal, and was shocked. He actually congratulated me on a job well done when I exited my vehicle. I have had a license for ten years now, and I have never been trained in any way whatsoever to parellel park a car. My dad explained it to me once when I was 17 over dinner (I am 27 now), and I followed his instructions to great results. It is not hard.
I don't need a gadget to park my car for me, I need the government to stop dumbing down the country for the growing class of people who fail to meet even the lowest grade. Hell, they stopped teaching parellel parking a year before I took driver's ed, didn't stop me from learning.
--Nuintari
slashdot : where an opinion can be wrong.
Here, we have signs stating that specifically: "Slower traffic keep right". Meaning if you are not passing, move into the right lane.
For drivers, this is a good idea sometimes, and an unworkable idea other times. The only exit for the city nearest me is a left exit off the interstate, and there are no other exits for miles.
In Germany and other countries you will be arrested if you are found driving in the left lane and not passing, the left lane is strictly for passing there.
This works great in Germany, because the autobahn is built for that kind of driving. The interstate system is not. (I've driven on both.)
If you want to pay to redesign our freeway system to be more autobahn-like, I'll support you 100%. But simply wishing American drivers drove on American roads like German drivers do on German roads is ignoring the glaring fact that American roads are not German roads.
So where do I mail the pipe bomb for this one?
I've found if you can get 3 or 4 inches up the curb, you end up better off. Just make sure you bought the expensive tires with the thick walls, and your turning radius is above par. That's how I get into the REAL tight spots. My subaru has an incredible turning radius.
9,000,000 law-suits from "I hit that other car when I was using the auto park!"
Actually manuevering the car IS an issue for most people who have an issue w/ parallel parking, but probably of equal concern is knowing when to stop (or when to keep going).
Also, how long until someone mod's their Prius to be driven by remote control? Between cruise control, ABS and now this auto-park, every bit of the control is now available to the computer. Forget T-1000's, Skynet is just gonna run us all down w/ our Toyota's.
Happened to a friend of mine:
"It was a bus. How could you hit it?"
"It was a bus. How could I miss?"
Look Ma, no hands!!!
I post, therefore I am
West End of Aberdeen I presume?
200K in London goes a scarily short way these days.
http://blog.grcm.net/
Amen!
This is exactly why cars in this country will never have cruise control.
Wait, what were we talking about?
I personally can't wait to see machines taking the control of traffic. Most of the problems in the traffic are drove by stupidity of human beens, whatever inability or lack of prudence. Machines won't use the vehicle as a public display of 'pilot skills' and won't suffer of road rage. Actually I predict a safer traffic guided by machinery. Let humans do what they do better, whatever else than exhibit their lack of education in traffic jams.
I for one welcome our giant self-park automobile overlords!
Break pedal? I wonder whether that car has Prnt Scrn, SysRq and Scroll Lk pedals as well.
Oh well, what the hell...
Ok, fine. But if it's all backed up, and everybody's going as fast as they can already due to congestion, then we're all going to spread out and increase bandwidth; deal with it.
If you want to drive at 5 over the limit, that's fine.
Agreed.
But you have NO right, nor any business even trying, to keep other drivers from driving faster than you do.
Um, well, remember that point of yours above? Well, the law _requires_ you to stay the hell under the speed limit. I am fully within my rights to discourage you from breaking the law. Keep that hunk of steel at a safe speed and I'll be as courteous as you like.
The source material is wrong. I just confirmed it with Toyota:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6484140.html
I don't have any mod points, and we're so far off-topic it won't matter how insightful this might be. However, I'd like to emphasize your point that many have missed in the flurry of name-calling here.
Indeed, poor enforcement of the (speed limit) law is the root problem. Either the law needs to be fixed (to increase the speed limits to something reasonable) or the enforcement needs to be significantly more strict. Either way, all drivers should be driving within the legal limits (and that includes minimums as well as maximums, although lots of clueless drivers don't even realize there is a minimum). However, we certainly can't have it both ways, as it necessarily creates hazardous conditions, which happens to be the very thing the law was intended to avoid (it's odd how often that happens).
Without proper enforcement (especially coupled with ridiculously low limits in places) lots of drivers feel they can get away with going well beyond the legal limits. The "flow of traffic" inevitably becomes higher than the posted speed limit. This puts us all in an awkward position; we must go over the limit to stay safely within the flow, or honor the limit thus creating unsafe conditions due to a large relative speed difference.
Note the almost comical (if it weren't so very dangerous) irony in the arguments against you. The vast majority of the folks who are complaining are citing here how the law compels you to pull over so that you may be passed. Yet that very same law compels them not to speed in order to pass you, if you're already at (or above) the posted limit!
As far as I'm concerned, the burden lies squarely on the speeders to adapt and cope (civilly, ideally) with all the law-abiding drivers who are driving at any speed between the minimum and maximum permitted speeds.
I'll state again for emphasis to your detractors: The laws defining the speed limits may be terrible, but you are just as obligated to follow these laws as the left-lane drivers are obligated to follow the laws that allow you to pass. You cannot have it both ways; you can't selectively ignore some laws then try to enforce others as you see convenient.
In capitalist Britain, the car parks you!
Read my blog: HansMast.com
Rt. 128 in Massachusetts, colocated with I-95, is roughly like this:
leftmost: 80 MPH
mid-left: 75 MPH
mid-right: 70 MPH
rightmost: 65 MPH
The limit is 55 MPH. There is less than one car length between vehicles in any lane. The lanes are relatively narrow, and the road isn't all that straight as highways go. At normal speed, parts are curvy enough to be rather exciting. (somewhere around Wellesly, or west-north-west of Boston)
Yes... just like a calculator is another 'convinience' for people who are clearly far too STUPID to do math.
:)
Yes... just like a dictionary is another 'convinience' (sic) for people who are clearly far too STUPID to spell.
Lead, follow, or get the HELL out of the way!
Libertas in infinitum
Those kids are assholes and deserve to be flogged and hung at high noon in the public square on the 6 o'clock news!
What if someone had an important reason that they needed to speed? What if someone was rushing to the hospital but couldn't get there in time and someone died as a result of their actions? What if it was an ambulence?
What if someone was being robbed at gun-point and the fastest way for the police to get there was take the interstate, but it was blocked because of these idiot asshat kids?
Impeding the flow of traffic IMO is a citable offense and they should have gotten a ticket for what they had done. They were creating a hazard by being the slowest on the road.
Now, the people who went around and executed illegal moves to go around them are just as guilty, but these kids created a very dangerous hazardous situation.
Libertas in infinitum