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Full-Size Remote Control Cars
cylonlover writes "Thanks to efforts of groups such as Google, Oxford University, BMW and Continental, we're getting closer and closer to the advent of autonomous cars – vehicles that drive themselves, with the human 'driver' pretty much just along as a passenger. Researchers at Germany's Technische Universität München, however, are looking at taking things a step further. They're developing remote-control cars that could travel along city streets with no one in them at all, their operator located somewhere far away."
Having a human to control the car makes it relatively EASY compared to autonomous. Whether there is a human in the autonomous car or not makes no difference. Of course it's still a technically challenging undertaking... drivers rely on being able to look behind them to check blind spots etc but a well designed remote would be able to give the driver all the info and control he'd need. Then it's just a matter of latency and control design.
Human drivers operating remotely is really a step in a different direction. It isn't moving past autonomous vehicles.
You could replace the remote humans with remote computers and it would be a form of autonomous vehicle.
In any case, given how often my cell phone drops signal while I'm driving I'm not sure I would want one of... oops...
sdfdxcal
[CARRIER LOST]
Too much sophistication. Not much practical....
can be end being very unsafe (with if it stops on rail road tracks) or any other number of unsafe places also can make some big jam ups let's say it stops on an 1 lane ramp?.
I trust software more than I trust most drivers these days.
In the event of a bandwidth bottleneck or a sudden connection failure, the vehicle automatically brake
FYI, I see a lot of cars sitting on the highway (i.e. lesson one of wireless technology: don't use it!).
How feasible is something like this for long-haul trucking I wonder. Then the drivers wouldn't have to be away from home for weeks on end -- they could just sit in what amounts to a simulator room that was setup like a real cab with numerous cameras to give you normal vision and maybe some force-feedback.
I assume the eventual future will be monotonous stuff like long-haul trucking will all be automated.
Just what we need. Drones on the road.
latency
Also don't even think about roaming with this as let's say $10-$20 an meg and ruining an car at $10 per minute (based on an very low data use of an 1 meg per minute is unworkable able let's say it more like 5-10 meg an minute that's like $500-$1000 in 60 minutes you bill is at the price of an NEW CAR!!.
Even at $10 per GB (usa no slow down rates) can still add up to like $10 per an little over 1.30 hours and that is not counting any other costs.
Anyone else immediately think of the remote control car from Tomorrow Never Dies?
These days you could run the remote app on just about any smartphone...
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
I wouldn't be surprised if UPS would be interested. Trucker gets tired just hand off. No more potty breaks etc.
I'm interested in the security and reliability of the connection. Cloud cover, overpasses, etc etc. Although I suppose you could combine a little auto driving in there like auto breaking and dealing with being cutoff. I don't think you could react fast enough remotely...plus if you wrecked the impact is less for you so you might get lazy.
at the basic level all you will need is some cell phone jamming and at the harder going after the control centers.
I've always wondered who operates the airport concourse subways and trams. There's no visible driver. Is it totally automated? Are they monitored remotely?
At first sight it doesn't sound really efficient, with empty cars driving around, but there could be new kind of shopping. Drive through malls where stuff is thrown into the empty car which can then be driven back home. Or how about a nice day at the beach with friends, in 5.1 surround and 360 degree vision? Maybe later models have more audio channels too. Next step could be to use car stereo system to transmit voice. There will be a boom in the car audio retail.
DARPA's grand challenge had the cars unmanned. Totally autonomous, no human control, no one in the vehicle. Remote control of them would be easier than that. DARPA's goal at the time was to have supply trucks for the US Army to move around with like drones, so they wouldn't risk soldiers to IEDs.
Ol' Rick Dawson had a farm EIEIO
Fit three clunkers with actuators on steering wheel, horn, pedals, stick and connect them to an RC car receiver
Put cameras inside it.
Put cars in Dunsfold Park circuit
Give Jeremy, Richard and Dave one RC car controller each.
Make funny Top Gear Episode while the clunkers are trashed.
still need some to pickup and drop packages and remote drivers will cost more then just an driver doing it all.
I could stay home while driving to work.
small track runs and in places only 1 train on each track.
Grant already modded several cars with remote control so that they can do dangerous stuff to the car without hurting themselves. Now, mind you, he did it as a human replacement (levers and pistons that operate the brake, gas pedals and gear box), rather than having the logic built into the car, but the idea is already there.
That's what would be a step further. Being able to direct my car to come pick me up and not bother me with the details of how it got there.
Remotely piloted vehicles might useful for long haul trucking. It would be easier to drive in shifts this way if the drivers did not have to be physically present. They could even get a decent "night"'s sleep in a bed when not driving.
Didn't they already do this in the 1960's? I seen a remote control car in Mission Impossible once!
Seems to me, this would be a boon to automating driving. Since with the ability for cars to be remotely controlled, a central traffic computer could move these cars, knowing their destinations ahead of time (you'd tell it where you'd like to go.) much more efficiently than we could ever hope to do.
Some challenges to overcome, but this could be a step in the right direction. I think a combination of on board computers to manage the vehicle in combination with a central traffic computer to guide cars in relation to each other more efficiently, we could be looking something quite nice. Obviously, to me at least, the on board automation needs to be robust enough to operate on it's own whenever a central traffic computer is not available for one reason or another.
Employment as part of a five-member committee that cooperates in team-driving one vehicle at a time. Or a train, when the engineer is using his cell phone.
Please replace "taking things a step further"
with "trying something a bit easier"
As many have said this is in no way a step forward from autonomous. How many times have the Mythbusters done this already?? (Albeit not from a distant location, but big deal)
Now you do not have to distract yourself from watching Google-provided ads while you're driving.
Get your computer hands off my steering wheel, I like driving my car!
You are an ass. You took The MAZZTer's post, bitched about it's grammar and then went a rewrote it yourself which scored you a +5. You're a karma whore. DIAF. I modded both your posts down.
can be end being very unsafe (with if it stops on rail road tracks) or any other number of unsafe places also can make some big jam ups let's say it stops on an 1 lane ramp?.
It will be piloted by predator drone operators and will carry explosives, tested in Iraq, perfected in Afghanistan, sold throughout the world, by Target, get it?
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
The point of having a car is to get me from point A to point B. An autonomous car I can understand. For those too dim to drive. But what would be the point of me sitting at home while directing my car all over town? I mean if I've got to sit with a wheel in my hand, I might as well be sitting in the driver's seat.
The application proposed by TFA (delivering rental cars) still requires paying a (remote) driver for the one way trip. Might as well have one person drive a car carrier and drop vehicles off where needed.
Have gnu, will travel.
:-D
Has anyone considered that another solution might be a workable public transit system? I like driving as much as anyone but every time I go to a city I marvel at all the cars going to roughly the same place during rush hour.
Now I know the plot of the next Grand Theft Auto: Reality Edition!
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
I saw them testing this on Top Gear.
"The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
Muslims would be mowing down pedestrians and causing head-on crashes left, right, and centre. It's a real "terrorists toolkit"
http://www.komatsu.com/ce/currenttopics/v09212/
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/296907,rio-tinto-prepares-mine-for-driverless-trucks.aspx
Live Action GTA
alreay done!
Atlas Car - Aveiro University - Portugal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN4-AfUN-3A
nt
Oh hell no, as a cyclist I know that drivers take enough risks with MY life even when they're in the car and I can confront the idiots 50 yards down the road at the lights.
How can police see if the driver is drunk, old enough, awake, not playing tetris etc.
No fucking way, I will **censored** if a remotely driven car comes anywhere near me.
Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
A remote control Bumble-Bee that would do my office work while I just sit at home and have beer ?
Check the times on all of the posts.