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NVIDIA To Install Computers In Cars To Teach Them How To Drive

jfruh writes: NVIDIA has unveiled the Drive PX, a $10,000 computer that will be installed in cars and gather data about how to react to driving obstacles. "Driving is not about detecting, driving is a learned behavior," said Jen Hsun Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. The data collected by Drive PXes will be shared, allowing cars to learn the right and wrong reactions to different situations, essentially figuring out what to do from experience rather than a rigid set of pre-defined situations.

77 comments

  1. Skynet by Crookdotter · · Score: 2

    Is that you?

    1. Re:Skynet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was thinking of HAL, or VIKI (from I, Robot).

    2. Re:Skynet by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

      If we teach computers how to drive by using US drivers....Skynet isn't going to be much of a threat...

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    3. Re:Skynet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hey, I'm not going to defend American drivers as good, but I will say as somebody who's been to Italy (Rome specifically) and India (Mumbai specifically), in the global perspective, Americans aren't that bad. They're still bad mind you, just not that bad.

    4. Re:Skynet by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

      Americans are oblivious (and I am one!), Italy/India you could make the argument it's intentional and bordering on malicious...that would be bad to teach Skynet...lol

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    5. Re:Skynet by Immerman · · Score: 1

      I don't know... I've never been to either, but from what I've heard the traffic is total chaos, but the accident rates aren't correspondingly higher. That would suggest that the average driving skill is actually considerably higher.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  2. How's that again? by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 2

    I recognize that analyzing lots of data across lots of cars, drivers, and routes might yield useful knowledge. I'll bet there are even insights that no single human driver could ever gain.

    But an awful lot of driving behavior comes from things that have nothing to do with anything this computer can monitor -- specifically, the driver's thought processes. If I slam on the brakes suddenly because I remember something I forgot at home, what will the computer make of that?/p?

    1. Re:How's that again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, no, no. They'll learn from experience, just like we all do. The first time you make a hard right into that overpass support piling and your car crumples like a tin can, from that point forward you know not to ever do that again! And if in the vehicle in the next lane over has a lady's head bobbing up and down over the driver's lap, then you'd better give it a wide berth. These are all simple rules that can be learned.

    2. Re:How's that again? by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      Have you considered they might be studying human drivers to learn from their mistakes?

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    3. Re:How's that again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How about: "I have to always be vigilant since at any time some idiot might slam on their brakes for no apparent reason, and sometimes that idiot might even be me!?

    4. Re:How's that again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An outlier. If in 10000 similar situations the drivers did not break, and there's no other information regarding any dangers, then it's safe to discard it.

    5. Re:How's that again? by alen · · Score: 1

      that you are an idiot?

    6. Re:How's that again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does a computer account for DWI or people driving pissed? Say I knock back 6-8 PBRs and hit the road, what part of the behavior is actually driving, versus what comes from the booze?

      I know that a computer that learns to drive in Boston or NYC will have a far more aggressive algorithm (three empty highway lanes going 65, the computer will end up sliding in front of the lone car, slamming on brakes, just because that is what east coast drivers do for jollies.) Or if the computer watches the bus drivers in Mexico, it will drive until it hits something, back up, do some evasive action, and go on. Same in Austin. If the computer hits a cyclist, part of what it gets taught is how to get out of there so as not to get nailed for hit and run.

    7. Re:How's that again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you really lived on the (northern) East Coast, you'd know there's no such thing as an open lane.

    8. Re:How's that again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the computers will pass on some electrical energy to your buttocks so that this is not repeated.

    9. Re:How's that again? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      It's called noise. Most people, most of the time will not slam on the brakes for no reason. Averaging over the behaviour of many drivers over long periods of time lets the algorithm discount your aberrant behaviour.

    10. Re:How's that again? by Shoten · · Score: 4, Funny

      If I slam on the brakes suddenly because I remember something I forgot at home, what will the computer make of that?

      That you live in Florida?

      --

      For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
    11. Re:How's that again? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      That is why we have filters ...

      * < 0.1% person doing something is just noise,
      * > 80% people doing it may be signal -- the context andconsequences needs to be considered.

    12. Re:How's that again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I was taking driving lessons, my driving instructor would often give instructions about driving extra slow when going past particular intersections where he knew particularly large vehicles like tractor/trailers, cyclists and horse riders were likely to come from. This knowledge took priority of the official speed limit signs. Even avoiding particular roads due to high risk of traffic jams, flooded roads next tor rivers fog,, or slow-moving vehicles like removal cars. It's the local knowledge that taxi drivers would build up and going beyond sat-nav.

    13. Re:How's that again? by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Or their weaknesses...

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  3. Uhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... in order to learn behavior you need to know where things are in space (aka detecting that they are there). What a dumb statement.

  4. True test of this technology by P3r1$c0p3 · · Score: 1

    Only is this a success if the self driving car can appropriately extend a middle finger to other motorists who are giving them road rage.

  5. Weong by peragrin · · Score: 2

    The computer isn't learning from experience it is being programmed by a different method. basically they are copying other drivers reactions to a set of obstacles so that the programmers don't have to create all those rules themselves.

    Think of it this way instead of manually programming a replacement robot arm on an assembly line they are copying the program code over directly to save time. This isn't a bad thing. However it is far from learning.

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    1. Re:Weong by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      That sounds pretty close to the primary human learning method: monkey see monkey do

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    2. Re:Weong by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      "Learning from experience" is a much better analogy for what they're talking about than your example of "copying the program code over."

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    3. Re:Weong by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Only some people learn from monkey see monkey do. It is a valid method for some, but not everyone learns from that method. Monkey see monkey do results in users complaining about changing user interfaces. See windows 8 for examples.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    4. Re:Weong by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      I think you are being overly generous in your assessments of the frequency of monkey see monkey do learning. We do tend to be filled with hubris.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    5. Re:Weong by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      That's one of the most contrived explanations I've ever seen used to cover up "but my brain is magic!"

  6. It most cetainly is not a behavior. by nimbius · · Score: 3, Interesting

    a behavior is: observable activity in a human or animal. the aggregate of responses to internal and external stimuli. a stereotyped, species-specific activity, as a courtship dance or startle reflex.

    Driving is the appliaction of education, study, and practice of a specific set of rules and regulations pertaining to a specific type of motorized vehicle. the reason we have different licenses for motorcycles, cars, and semi tractor trailers is more than enough to discredit the idea that driving is a behavior itself. You could classify things like tailgating and jackrabbit starts as poor behaviors associated with operating a motor vehicle, but driving is far more of a learned skill than an expression of ones inability to cancel a turn signal.

    if we distilled driving to behavior, as nvidia insists, we would have a car that refused to turn its headlights on in the rain and couldnt properly allow vehicles to overtake while passing. It would go 25 miles over the speed limit, ignore school zones, and divert 100% of its resources to text messages and cellular communication at random intervals. It would occasionally ignore green lights and red lights, and it would tailgate and merge without signaling almost religiously. it would erroneously yield right of way at a roundabout, it would ignore speed limits in construction zones, and it would short-stop at continuous merge lanes and wait for traffic to pass before entering. In short, it would be the single most dangerous thing on any tarmac or asphalt since Gary Busey.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:It most cetainly is not a behavior. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know where you got your definition of behavior, but it's not the common one. The Wikipedia summary of behavior is Behavior or behaviour (see spelling differences) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with themselves or their environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the (inanimate) physical environment. It is the response of the system or organism to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal or external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary.

      Driving is certainly behavior. It is possible the average human driving behavior isn't great - but I actually would guess it is fairly good, and that stupidity is an exception.

    2. Re:It most cetainly is not a behavior. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      It would help if you didn't use the definition of animal behaviour from dictionary.com.

      Driving is a behaviour. If we look at the other definitions of behaviour at dictionary.com (on the same page you got your definition):

      • manner of behaving or acting.
      • Often, behaviors. a behavior pattern.
      • the action or reaction of any material under given circumstances

      we can see that you either made a mistake, don't know how a dictionary works, or decided to pervert the discussion by re-defining a word in order to tear apart those who use the word correctly, but not in accordance with your new, strict definition. Pick one :)

  7. Learning trumps instincts by rmdingler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Even for the often flawed human drivers, this rings true. It seems one of the more common single vehicle highway accidents is the slight drift off the road followed by the panicked, aggressive over-correction... experience teaches us to gradually bring the vehicle back in line by fighting the gut-reaction to hurry.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:Learning trumps instincts by ledow · · Score: 3

      I disagree.

      It's about being sensible. I have only ever been in a full skid situation once and I was able to apply WHAT I'D BEEN TOLD in the heat of the moment, without ever having done it before*.

      My father is car-mad and has run garages and serviced fleets of vehicles for decades. I just drive. I'm not interested in extreme situations or driving fast. But my father has for many years tried to get me on a skid-pan to "learn" how to control a skid. We never got around to it, and I'd never skidded.

      But when I *did* skid, I was able to refer back to what I was told and even those "things you have to do for yourself, because in the heat of the moment, son, you'll forget and do the instinctual things instead" - and applied them.

      I don't think driving is a learned behaviour at all, and I think it's EXACTLY the situations that are out-of-the-blue, unexpected, serious and panicky that you don't want to be interpreting the situation but "sticking to the rules you've been told, not what you 'feel' like doing".

      Driving while towing a caravan and the caravan starts to rock - you got there through stupidity ONLY, you're even more stupid if you're at that point and DON'T know what you're supposed to do if that happens. It's like getting into a strange car and not bothering to look for the brake before you start off (and that's in the same position for EVERY car!)

      If you follow the rule, you slow gently and stay straight. Sure, I bet a thousand drivers will tell you to spurt forward to bring the caravan back in line. But the rule won't hurt you, only inconvenience you.

      Skidding - you got there through stupidity PROBABLY (especially if such skid means you end in a collision because you're too close / fast), you should know how to handle it (it's in the Highway Code in the UK!).

      Emergency braking - instinct in all learner drivers is to stab the brake as hard as they can as fast as they can, which generates a skid that only ABS will save you from. Correct method is to apply brakes as normal, basically, but slightly quicker. Tell them that and it's what happens.

      Riding on your gut / learned reaction to a situation is a bad idea, especially if you've taken to playing games testing the limits of your driving/vehicle beforehand. You'll think you "know" when it's about to skid and how much you can turn before it will lose grip, etc. when in reality the surfaces are vastly different and determinant on every day and on every road.

      A computer has more than enough time to evaluate the problem, cause, and solution, and has no need to "guess" at the solution. It might not be able to avoid the collision - but then there's nothing it can do about that. Teaching it to work by an illogical application of arbitrary, self-formulated rules that can't be analysed or repeated reliably? That's just asking for trouble. Just program it to sit a few more feet back and follow the rules.

      I get told all the time that some things you can't "pre-teach", like clutch control - it's not true. It's just that your kids get bored with the theory when they first drive and just want to do it. If you tell them to expect loose pedal, slight contact, then dipping of bonnet as the gear engages, and slow, smooth actions from day one, then clutch control isn't hard at all. The problem is that we expect them to "jump in" and try it without knowing what to expect, and that's when you kangaroo and stall.

      But knowing what to expect is not about having done it several thousand times before, it can also just be about "this is what will happen, this is what you should do". It'll come swimming back to you when you need it.

      Emergency situations, you follow the rules. Getting clever "because you think you can go around him before he hits you" is exactly what causes the problems. Hell, from what I see of UK drivers, I bet a significant portion of accidents are people who DON'T want to get stuck behind the main accident and a split-second decision makes them pass him so they aren't stuck wai

    2. Re:Learning trumps instincts by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      It's about being sensible. I have only ever been in a full skid situation once and I was able to apply WHAT I'D BEEN TOLD in the heat of the moment, without ever having done it before*.

      The last time I was unexpectedly in a full-skid condition, I didn't have time to think. If I hadn't been in the habit of deliberately drifting that car, I'd have gone straight off the road. And I was going at a speed below the limit, and paying close attention to what I was doing. Must have hit an oily patch.

      On the other hand, when I've used ABS in the snow I had lots of time to think. Car in front of me (well in front, mind) tried to turn right and wound up turning left and sliding sideways instead. They miraculously stopped right before running into oncoming traffic. Meanwhile I nailed the ABS (Impreza...) and steered serenely onto the shoulder and back onto the road after going around them. I could have actually stopped with real brakes, I had lots of time and space to put it in the dirt and actually get the car stopped there, but the car decided otherwise. Still, that was a time in which I thought my way through the situation.

      Conclusion, there's room for both things.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Learning trumps instincts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just wanted to say that you're completely right, and the same technique (ie, having a fixed plan of action ahead of time) is actually used for anger management too.

      It's been proven that in a situation where thinking is not a realistic option (like a crash situation or getting uncontrollably angry), if you have a plan worked out ahead of time you're much more likely to have a positive outcome. Your brain may shut off its "thinking" programs in those situations, but it can still recall lists in memory and put those into effect.

    4. Re:Learning trumps instincts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I should say "a realistic option for the average person". I'm sure someone will come in and point out that they can operate rationally in any given circumstance no matter how dire or emotional they are, and therefore anyone can do it if they really want to.

    5. Re:Learning trumps instincts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FWIW, the secret to clutch control isn't even learning the car's physical reaction to the clutch (though that helps). Just first learn to set off without using the gas. Just use the clutch, nothing else. You are required to treat it like a faberge egg, or the car will stall instead of setting off. You'll figure out the bite point and in no time you can set off smoothly and easily. Once you're there, you can add in the gas. I've used that method for more than one person and it really does solve the problem. It also helps when you are required to drive your car behind obliviously slow walking people. :)

      Besides, a lot of today's cars are so darn short you can't even see the hood from the driving position, especially if it's a cabover design.

    6. Re:Learning trumps instincts by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 0

      ...and of course leaving out all the times the person does, in fact, avoid a wreck, because these by definition do not make the statistics.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    7. Re:Learning trumps instincts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just use the clutch, nothing else

      This only works in a vehicle that generates sufficient torque at idle. Plenty of small-engined vehicles require at least a little throttle input to get things rolling.

    8. Re:Learning trumps instincts by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > A computer has more than enough time to evaluate the problem, cause, and solution, and has no need to "guess" at the solution.

      Just to play Devil's Advocate. That is an underlying assumption there: That the computer has

      1) enough
      2) valid

      data to make to a solution that makes sense in that context?

      The problem with rules is that there is always exceptions. i.e. Sometimes accelerating will avoid the accident!

      Is the program smart enough to widen the search space and consider alternative solutions?

      The rest of your post is interesting.

    9. Re:Learning trumps instincts by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

      data to make to a solution that makes sense in that context?

      The problem with rules is that there is always exceptions. i.e. Sometimes accelerating will avoid the accident!

      Is the program smart enough to widen the search space and consider alternative solutions?

      The rest of your post is interesting.

      Assuming turbo-boost is inoperable there are only so many things we can do. Go faster, slower or same while going straight, left or right.

      For a computer doing some vector arithmetic brute force style across all possible reactions seems on its face to be quite trivial next to challenge of developing a valid model of the system/environment in the first place.

    10. Re:Learning trumps instincts by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

      On ABS-equipped cars, stabbing the brake *is* the correct action for emergency breaking. In normal conditions, no human can beat the efficiency of ABS breaking, even professional pilots. In unusual situations (gravel, snow, ...) a skilled driver can beat the ABS by basically doing a controlled skid, something that the system won't let you do anyways unless you turned on "suicide" mode.
      So much that many modern cars are able to detect emergency breaking situations and use 100% breaking power even if the pedal isn't completely depressed. The ABS takes care of the skid. (see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...).

    11. Re:Learning trumps instincts by blackanvil · · Score: 1

      This is one of the reasons I sometimes turn off ABS and other "traction" systems when driving on snow or ice. My sedan's sensors and algorithms clearly expect wet pavement, or at least some traction, or they don't let the tires turn, which means the car doesn't go if the snow/ice is too slick. Since I grew up driving in New England, I don't have a problem reverting to full manual drive, but I understand why some of the locals here in Virginia just abandon their cars when they stop moving, probably too afraid to turn off the supposed safety features and drive that way. If you've never driven in slippery conditions with the controls off, you probably won't understand how much more control you have in that situation with them off than on.

    12. Re:Learning trumps instincts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason pilots cannot out perform ABS is because planes don't have ABS....

    13. Re:Learning trumps instincts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It isn't just about learning a thing by doing. It's about practicing it so you can do it in any situation, better than people who don't practice it. Like playing piano, or any other number of things. I can preteach painting to you, you won't be good at first. I can preteach the procedures of a surgery to you, but I wouldn't trust you to operate on anyone. There are things in life that must be practiced. Just as playing piano is not simply about theory, driving a car is also not simply about theory. I've practiced drifting and racing Miatas and from what I've experience and noticed in others I can conclude you'd likely be amazed how poor your driving is next to others with even a little bit of intensive practice. There's too many factors to just "do what you've been told". How much should you adjust your skid recovery on an off camber downhill? How about if there's gravel on the road surface? What if you need to slalom between two cars to avoid a collision because of someone else's mistake, but the road surface changes in between? There's no "turn the wheel x percent less" for these situations. There's only feel and it only comes with practice.

  8. Now with Road Rage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Accelerate and flip the obscenity bit.

  9. Linus says by invictusvoyd · · Score: 1

    He aint buying

  10. Defeating the purpose by JeffOwl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What are they going to learn? How to not pay attention; how to not allow other vehicles to merge; how to force their way in when not allowed to merge; how to tailgate; how to brake check when others are tailgating; how to not use turn signals; what type of actions from other vehicles should cause them to rage; how to rage properly; how to ignore all the signs leading up to your exit and then cut across three lanes to take it at the last second; how to drive slow in the fast lane; how to pass when there isn't really room; how close they can get to a bicycle without actually hitting it; or hitting it, either way; ... etc..

    1. Re:Defeating the purpose by Wycliffe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What are they going to learn?

      My guess is that they are going to learn what causes accidents and what doesn't cause accidents.
      We humans are really really bad at driving. You're basically stating all the bad things that we do.
      That is good input for a computer because it can see what causes accidents and remember not to
      do that and compare it to what doesn't cause accidents. I'm not sure I would trust a system like
      this to drive a car but it could easily be used to grade a computer (or a person) on their driving
      style.

    2. Re:Defeating the purpose by Graydyn+Young · · Score: 1

      Hopefully they plan on rolling this out in Finland or Germany where people actually know how to drive.

    3. Re:Defeating the purpose by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 0

      And yet, strangely enough, millions of people each day arrive at their destinations unscathed. Really really bad at driving? Collisions would be daily or monthly events, instead of rare. My grandmother drove her entire life without a single incident. Even in countries where people really are bad at driving, still to be in a collision is a noteworthy event.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    4. Re:Defeating the purpose by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      And yet, strangely enough, millions of people each day arrive at their destinations unscathed. Really really bad at driving? Collisions would be daily or monthly events, instead of rare. My grandmother drove her entire life without a single incident. Even in countries where people really are bad at driving, still to be in a collision is a noteworthy event.

      The reason there are not more accidents has alot to do with luck. People on average get to their
      destination safely because the route and the other cars are predictable. This is the same reason
      that texting while driving doesn't get you immediately killed. But given an unknown like the car
      in front of you slamming on it's brakes and people are not very good at responding (even less so
      if they are distracted by a phone or something else).

  11. piffle by koan · · Score: 2

    "Driving is not about detecting, driving is a learned behavior," said Jen Hsun Huang, CEO of NVIDIA

    It's about learning what to do with what you have detected, from position to collision detection is critical, then knowing what to do with that data is also critical.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  12. Great, just great by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 1

    Great, just great, where I live the rules of the road are treated as a "guide" line. A million ass hats experience of bad driving here will outweigh the few who actually driver responsibly, so I will end up with computers tailgating me and going through red lights.

    --
    There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
  13. Absolutely Necessary by Atheraal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is an indispensable aspect of the road to automated driving, so to speak. Yes, learning human behaviour behind the wheel would be detrimental if it were applied directly to the AI's own driving algorithms, but consider that it's going to need to anticipate the actions of all the human drivers around it. Yes, I would like my self-driving car to have a very fine-tuned set of expectations for the idiocy it'll encounter.

  14. Life-worth measurements by eric31415927 · · Score: 1

    Is this just a way to keep a robot-car manufacturer from specifically assigning weights to various bad outcomes and possibly avoiding lawsuits?
    Suppose a crash looks imminent. Whose life is more valuable? Instead of programming for this specifically, the manufacturer uses algorithms developed by obserations. Then the manufacturer could argue that it's not to blame when one person dies instead of another.

    In any case, this sounds like a great way to teach a computer how to drive badly.
    No one is a perfect driver - we don't want to teach our mistakes.
    People make correct or safe driving decisions based on inputs that cannot always be well measured - we don't want to teach incomplete rules.

    1. Re:Life-worth measurements by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Suppose a crash looks imminent. Whose life is more valuable?

      The car will choose to follow the rules of the road as best it can in an imminent-crash situation. Your car won't be able to tell the difference between a bus full of old folks and a bus full of children any time soon. It's just going to stack into whatever is actually in its lane after bleeding off as much velocity as possible, it's not ever going to go onto the curb to hit the old woman to avoid smashing the day care minivan. Now can we stop asking this question, since it has a rather obvious answer? Pedestrian steps into the crosswalk too late for it to brake, your car doesn't swerve and hit parked traffic, the pedestrian gets sent airborne. And they deserved it, too. The car's on-board camera will prove it, and the stored telemetry will prove that the car couldn't possibly have stopped.


      Slow Down Cowboy!

      Slashdot requires you to wait between each successful posting of a comment to allow everyone a fair chance at posting a comment.

      It's been 4 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment

      Chances are, Slashdot is being a fucking bitch again.

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      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Life-worth measurements by Ichijo · · Score: 1

      Or the car wouldn't hit that pedestrian because it knows better than to drive faster than is reasonable and prudent when its sight is obstructed by that row of parked cars. This is especially important in residential areas where children may be playing.

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    3. Re:Life-worth measurements by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the car wouldn't hit that pedestrian

      Full agreement there.

      ... when its sight is obstructed by that row of parked cars

      See, that's the thing. Whenever people bring up the 'sudden pedestrian' argument, they all seem to forget that these cars have sensors that can see through those obstacles. While a pedestrian might be visually occluded by a row of parked cars, such that no human could possibly see them until it's too late, the car's sensors will have been tracking their precise location and vector for hundreds of meters, at the very least. There's basically no situation where you can 'surprise' something that's equipped with 360 degree IR, laser, radar, sonar and optics.

  15. In a related news.. by ctrl-alt-canc · · Score: 1

    Ford has unveiled a car prototype designed to be parked inside a desktop computer. Its purpose is to teach cars how to compute.

  16. speed limits set to low is an issues and 85%+ of t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    speed limits set to low is an issues and 85%+ of traffic is going over it.

    Also some roads that are set to 55-65 people see that as the old 55 law and go over it. Now if the roads where posted at 70 (some of them used to be there before the old 55 law) then less people will be going way over the limit. Also get rid of the 45 work zones when no one is working / in places where a 55 work zone is good.

  17. WHAAAAAAAT???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    >"Driving is not about detecting"

    This man should never be allowed within thirty feet of a car, much less drive one or design one that drives itself!

  18. Maximum Overdrive by jsepeta · · Score: 1

    When and where will these cars be tested on the roads, so I can know when to stay home? Sounds like a horrible plan.

    At least computers never eat or apply makeup while driving. But can they text? How many threads?

    I still don't trust the idea of giving 3000+ pound vehicles autonomy. Thankfully, they still need humans to pump gas.

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
    1. Re:Maximum Overdrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When and where will these cars be tested on the roads, so I can know when to stay home? Sounds like a horrible plan.

      At least computers never eat or apply makeup while driving. But can they text? How many threads?

      I still don't trust the idea of giving 3000+ pound vehicles autonomy. Thankfully, they still need humans to pump gas.

      It'll be fine. You just have to learn more.

      After all, SystemD has it covered. Editor, Logging, Networking, driving, etc...

      -Alien Among You

  19. Hopeless. by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Teach a bunch of chips to drive?

    They're Asian!

    PS. Do I get first stereotype at least?

  20. Put it in the car with the Stig... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Put it in the car with the Stig... That might make me consider a self driving car.

    1. Re:Put it in the car with the Stig... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Sure. "Oh. My 60hp SEAT city car just tried to accelerate like a £400k Ferrari and despite failing miserably still tried to get around that sharp corner at 80mph because the Ferrari can. Luckily it knew to call for an ambulance"

    2. Re:Put it in the car with the Stig... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well that's miles above what it would learn if Jeremy Clarkson were the driver. Then all the car would do is hit people....

  21. this by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    Slow Down Cowboy!

    nVidia requires you to wait between each successful usage of the brakes to allow everyone a fair chance at avoiding accidents.

    It's been 4 minutes since you last successfully used your brakes.

  22. Using What Sensors ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What sensors would these test automobiles be equipped with?

    The "crash avoidance" radar front and rear as being installed on mid market and luxury vehicles?

    The visual sensors of Subaru EyeSight

    Unique radars or lidars as used on the Google autonomous vehicle?

    What GPS sensors, to what accuracy?

    The article is very short on facts.

  23. Bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One thing I fear about driverless vehicles are implementations based on outcome of learning algorithms that will be sub-optimal, impossible to understand, verify or debug.

    Would much rather see a model driven approach with enough simulation capability to support an objective function causing the least amount of havoc regardless of the situation. As a practical matter count of possible reactions to a given event is limited.

  24. Johnny 5 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Green light: go, red light: stop, orange light: go very, very fast!

  25. Will this result in more reliable drivers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cause my Quadro crashes all the time!

  26. Computer Back Seat Drivers by nichogenius · · Score: 1

    If their experiment is successful, their computers should be able to give feedback fairly quickly as to what the driver should do before they actually do it. Advanced braking warning, correction if you get distracted/drowsy and start to drift out of your lane, speed corrections if the speed limit is changed or the road conditions changed etc etc. This idea is really cool and all, but they need to pack in a ton of sensors for any meaningful learning on the computer's part... once these sensors are there and the computer has some experience with decent drivers, the next step is to see how much better it can identify a bad situation and how much faster it can make the correct decision and if it can do it at a reliable rate. I'm not sure I want a computer trying to be my annoying Back Seat Driver.

  27. 3/4ths Control? by fightinfilipino · · Score: 1

    will the cars only control 3/4ths of the tires, with the last tire "slowly kicking in" when roads get slick?

  28. We got a nutter here! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NO MAN! It is just a way that the cars can legitimately claim that we didn't land on the moon, that the CEO of its corporation is actually an Illuminati reptilian, and that the fluoride in its cooling water is there so that it can be remotely controlled by HAARP. Even suggesting that it's for computer-derived life-worth calculations is squarely in the loony toon conspiracy nutter camp and you should feel bad for being so dumb. Liability shifting.....goddamned moran....

  29. Starman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Learning by observation tends to miss important exceptions when they're not observed.