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Driverless Cars Begin 8,000-Mile Trek
apoc.famine writes "Driverless technology from the University of Parma's VisLab was deployed in a real-world test on Tuesday. Two driverless chase vehicles will attempt to follow two lead vehicles across multiple continents, from Italy to China, over the course of three months. The journey will cover over 8,000 miles, (~13,000 km) as the chase vehicles use lasers and cameras to navigate hazards along the way. The team expects to collect about 100 TB of data, which requires a hefty electronics and battery load — the scale is such that the cars can only run for about three hours before needing 8 hours to recharge the batteries. This journey is being billed as just a test, and far from a real-world application. The vehicles don't go more than about 35mph, and need a person behind the wheel to take over at a moment's notice. 'What we are trying to do is stress our systems and see if they can work in a real environment, with real weather, real traffic, and crazy people who cross the road in front of you and a vehicle that cuts you off,' said project leader Alberto Broggi. The goal is not to produce just road vehicles, but to improve the technology so it can be used in military and agricultural roles as well. The team hopes to have helped mature the technology within the next 10-20 years to the point that it can be used on the road."
While I can't wait to see how this pans out, I still wouldn't like to be so close to the bleeding edge of the future that I get run over.
So, basically these are just two cars with some sort of homeing device that follows the lead vehicle? BIG WOW?
with blog and live streaming: VIAC: VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge
My first thought when reading this initially was, "what could possibly go wrong?" but the more I think about it, the less scary it actually is. With a lot of the drivers I encounter regularly it seems like there's nobody driving them anyways. I understand there's more important things to do other than steer the several thousand pound vehicle you're operating, things such as eating, doing makeup, and texting on your phone. In all seriousness I'm looking forward to the day when I can use my commute time for productive things like homework or reviewing notes on the way to class, but I think it's going to be a while before driving AI is reliable enough to trust to deal with the idiotic driving habits of people without paying it any mind.
This is amazing, if it is a success it would completely change the face of transportation.
I can't wait for this to be on sale for the public. No need to park your car in the city to go to work just have it drop you off at the front door, park somewhere free, avoid the parking police, then when your finished for the day call it up to come and get you. That’s just on a weekday can you imagine the fun you could have on the weekend knowing you have a computer driver ready to take you to the next pub, or get you back to the flower garden next to your driveway.
Rocket Surgeon.
Come on...
"The team expects to collect about 100 TB of data, which requires a hefty electronics and battery load — the scale is such that the cars can only run for about three hours before needing 8 hours to recharge the batteries."
So the 'team' are too stupid to wire up an extra alternator to run the electronics? You're telling me that a car engine doesn't produce WAY more than enough energy to power some computers? What a joke! Having to stop to recharge batteries? Are they serious? Epic fail.
They'll most likely be barged off the road by the hand-waving angry Italian motorists!
But where are the driverless *flying* cars? You know that's what we're all really waiting for!
They would probably make better time on this historic journey if they drove more than 1/6th of the time. Just sayin'.
* The car can park itself anywhere, get service or pick up stuff while you're working. Less need to use valuable city real estate and street area on parking. And as people no longer park along the streets they get effectively wider, with more space for traffic but also for bicycle lanes.
* A two-car family may only need one, as the car can go by itself to pick up family members as they need it.
* A family may in fact own no car. Car pooling becomes much more effective when you can call up a car from the pool to your front door at any time.
* No need for a license. People with dementia, or taking medication, or with severe disabilities, or underage can still get around, no problem.
* The cars will be scrupulous about obeying traffic laws and speed limits. But even with a small part self-driving cars, they will act as pace cars and slow and smooth traffic for everyone. Even more so, as they'll be recording everything happening around them, and other drivers know it. Pace will be slower, but people will arrive sooner.
* Life becomes tough for taxi drivers. Taking a taxi would become the same as short-term car rental in practice, and cheaper than taxis as there's no drivers salary to pay.
* Point to point transport becomes cheaper too, with driverless vans and trucks shuttling between shipment centers.
* Driverless drive-ins means you can send a car to do a lot of your errands.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
When you are unable to provide insight or interesting arguments to a discussion, you blindly criticize, troll in other words. Let's hope that at some point of time we will find some real expert in the field to RTFA, and write something that's actually worth reading.
Hack your mind out of its sandbox.
I'm a little surprised that the trip will only accumulate 100Tb of data. Slashdot ran a story a while ago about the IT side of F-1 racing and TFA mentioned that during a single race they accumulate 20 Gb of telemetry. This trip across China is obviously far longer, so I would expected even more data.
:)
Maybe there is just less stuff being monitored. They obviously don't need to monitor the vital signs of the driver
The real question is: can it be remotely hacked/cracked or whatever you call it when someone takes control over your car from a basement in their mom's house?
Will a car with mallware drive you only to a mall to convince you to buy things you don't need?
8 hour stops every 3 hours of driving means that the "testers" get plenty of time to tour lots of different hotels and cafes, eating the local fare, drinking the local brew and mixing with the local ladies.
Why the hell would you invest in the alternator technology if it would just ROB you of the opportunity to enjoy all of that down time on the road? Plus I bet these "testers" are getting paid some sort of wage for all of this, and that wage and most of their expenses will be paid by some sort of research grants.
I'm just sayin'. Sometimes psychology is the answer to these sort of engineering and financial decisions. Wouldn't YOU love to go on a cross-country trip and hang out in a string of hotel bars?
Plus you know, it's possible that the downtime will give them the opportunity to do things like optimize the software, troubleshoot problems, and so forth, so that they can improve the technology over the course of the trip. If they're going to take the time to do those things anyway, why bother to invest in engineering a one-time device to help them run without stopping?
So they're either getting drunk or being productive. Your call.
Robot Driver on board.
When you are unable to provide an intelligent response or interesting interpretation of a post without resorting to an accusation of trolling, you become that of which you accuse the parent of being..
I accept this truism, and fully expect this comment to end up -1, Troll, -1, Flamebait, or -1, Offtopic. The score of your comment, however, will determine if the masses agree with my point of view.
I don't post AC. I like my -1, Flamebaits. Trump/Sheen 2012 on the Batshit Insane ticket!
driverless car... we just used to call them brainless drivers ;)... now, 100 tera bytes of their driving would definitely interesting and puzzling :)
Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that
Um, the vehicles are all-electric. Admittedly, that isn't stated in the summary.
From the FAQ:
do while NOT there
print "Are we there yet?"
loop
rewriting history since 2109
Totally autonomous cars also mean surrendering control and anonymity. Is the reduction of traffic jams and maybe a reduction of accidents worth being tracked in real time? One might even have to declare how many occupants for the levying of fuel/power consumption taxes. Law-and-order types will demand only legal citizens be allowed on the 'auto' roads (papers, please). Oh, and since you can't have a mix of manual and guided cars sharing the same road, the poor need not bother (to the mud and washboard for you lot!).
We already have these in production. They're called taxi cabs.
"to collect about 100 TB of data, which requires a hefty electronics and battery load — the scale is such that the cars can only run for about three hours before needing 8 hours to recharge the batteries" I guess they've never heard of an alternator. It's a nifty thing in most cars that can charge batteries while driving. I doubt their electronics are running at more than 30 amps, which is what an alternator can easily put out. Or is 8 hours the time required for their Rayovac to top of their AAs?
Doesn't the Batmobile already do this?
I'm fine with this, as long as it respects robots.txt
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
cars drive you.
I seem to recall an article in Linux Journal about a researcher (possibly in Italy?) that had created an autonomous car. I can't find the article at the moment but I believe it was in the late '90s or early 2000s.
This sounds more like re-inventing the wheel than anything else.
The vehicle went on the road on July 20th, 2010. It begins to learn at a exponential rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Greenwich Standard Time, August 29th, 2010. In a panic, they try to pull the plug...
I don't know, I had to agree with zr-rifle. His post was amusing, while the post he responded to certainly looked like a troll to me. I mean, "When you are unable to create an art, you collect data, statistic in other words" is anti-science, trollishly so, especially in a forum like this.
Free Martian Whores!
Slashdot, I am severely disappointed in you.