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GM Unveils Networked Electric Mini Cars
suraj.sun writes "GM introduced its Electric Networked Vehicle prototypes, one third the size of a typical car, as a way to reduce big urban auto emissions and traffic congestion. The EN-V relies on dynamic stabilization technology similar to that of the one-person Segway scooter to keep its balance, and can be operated autonomously or under manual control. In autonomous mode the EN-V is designed to use high-speed wireless connectivity and GPS navigation to automatically select the fastest route, based on real-time traffic conditions gleaned from the Web or some other networked source of traffic information."
Nothing can go wrong with that! Not a thing!
You are never going to get people to give up cars. The personal freedom, comfort, and benefits over mass transit are just too great. What is going to happen eventually is that people will not drive their cars - cars will be semi-autonomous robots that plan the route, do the driving, detect and avoid objects in their path, communicate with other vehicles in proximity while driving, and park themselves efficiently. We can just sit there and drink, text our friends, and yell at the kids in the back to be quiet while the car is driving.
And the best thing - I'll be able to read books while driving!
Read books?! My passtime will involve curtains, a bottle of vodka and a bleach blond.
Might want to think about getting out a little more. ;)
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
All those moving parts... Wouldn't it be safer, cheaper and easier to just have a horse pull it?
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
Self driving cars are here!
They're called trains.
[citation needed]
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indeed. I'm just now learning to drive (I'm kinda old to just be learning it). In any case, I'm surprised some things haven't been automated yet. Like would it kill the car to signal me that stop sign is coming up? It can't be that big of a deal from image processing point of view... heck, it could even assist on breaking (if it notices I'm going too fast to stop at the right distance). Or how about breaking when the car is about to hit something? (like... a driving instructor would do?). These things aren't beyond the realm of reality for the car of next year... can probably be accomplished with a web-cam like thing pointing in all directions... yet I don't see it in the specs :-/
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
He's clearly not using the literal meaning of literally.