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Nissan Plans To Sell Self-Driving Cars By 2020
Lucas123 writes "Nissan today said it will begin demonstrating autonomous vehicle technology on its all-electric Leaf this year, and plans to begin selling multiple models of self-driving cars by 2020. Nissan said it's already building an autonomous drive proving ground in Japan. Its goal is availability across the model range within two vehicle generations. The car company, which is among several others and Google in developing autonomous driving tech, is currently working with top universities, including MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Oxford and The University of Tokyo, to develop its self-drive technology."
Think about the implications for the environment. Consistent easy acceleration saving fuel and safer roads for motorcyclists.
Traffic jams are almost a sole function of human deficiencies through overreaction and slow reaction. And, since ICEs are bad about changing power output to meet demand, lots of fuel is wasted idling.
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All these cars will religiously follow the speed limit, boxing up roads and not permitting those of us who are in a rush to get around them. The road rage will cause accidents, I guarantee that.
Learn to let go, then. The problem isn't the law-abiding the drivers. It's the high strung ones.
I've driven in states where the standard is to speed heavily, and I've driven in states where the standard is to go the speed limit. In my experience, there's a lot less road rage when people are going the speed limit. There's less variation in speed when everyone is following the same standard, which means less people tailgating, less lane changes to pass, and less people cutting each other off.
For me, eliminating the "must get there quicker" mentality sharply decreased my aggression when driving. I am a *much* better driver now than I was when I was younger and treating the highway like a personal race track and getting frustrated when someone got in the way of going the speed I wanted to go. Being forced to go the speed limit taught me to chill and let go of the little irritations that are the seeds of road rage.
So, I say bring on the fleet of law-abiding autonomous vehicles. Maybe it'll teach the rest of you to cool your frigging heads. (And to get off my lawn!)
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Holy fuck... you're right. I'm not yet 30 and I see 2020 and think "more than 10 years".
So because the car's going to follow the law, you're upset?
The quickest way to create a traffic jam and an immense road hazard is to follow every driving law to the letter.
In the past, truck drivers have done this when they want to make a statement about a new law they don't like. All it takes is one for each lane. Each truck going exactly the truck speed limit (often lower than auto). The backup goes for miles. Even if they obey a law that prohibits trucks in the left-most lane of a more than 2 lane freeway, it still blocks traffic quite well.
If every autodrive car follows the laws to the letter, there will be no increase in traffic capacity. They'll all be going the same speed, and since they aren't passing, they'll all be in the right lane. Plenty of room for real drivers to play.
Now, the question is, will they all be obeying the laws? Will each vehicle computer do an analysis on its own driving ability and the outside conditions and determine the maximum safe speed? Will this become a sales point? "Our cars are safer than brand X at higher speeds under the same conditions, so you'll get where you want to go faster?"
Consistent easy acceleration saving fuel and safer roads for motorcyclists.
Safer roads for everyone. It could be programmed for optimum acceleration, but that's not where most gas is wasted. Most gas is wasted sitting at red lights, and people are particularly stupid about that, at least here in Springfield. The light ahead is red and they race to it, but slow down if it's green. You could save a lot of fuel if the computer knew when lights were going to change.
Free Martian Whores!
Not only is it not theoretical, but it's been tested on public roads.
One initiative that doesn't go the whole way towards fully autonomous vehicles is the road train. A human-driven lead car shuttles back and forth the length of a multi-lane highway. As a driver of a suitably equipped car, you can drive up behind it, press a button, and become part of the convoy. The lead car now controls your car - brakes, steering, acceleration. When you're approaching your destination, press the button again, the controller will adjust the distances between you and the cars in front and behind, allowing you space to resume control and leave the convoy. Then the cars that were behind you will move in to fill your space.
The neat thing about this is that because the cars behind don't need to anticipate the movements of the lead car, they can be *much* closer together. Close enough to benefit from slipstream, which has a significant effect on fuel economy.