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Will Robot Cars Need Windows?
An anonymous reader writes: The Atlantic has an article asking whether autonomous cars need windows. If there's no driver, will the passengers want to look outside? In the summer, will anyone want to endure the relentless heat from the sun? The robot cars offer us a great opportunity to rethink the platform which is largely devoted to supporting the driver. But if a computer is in charge and it sees with dozens of cameras ringing the car, what else can we change? What else don't we need? What can improve?
People who get car sick need windows. Nuff said.
I think you'll need to ask Microsoft if autonomous cars need Windows..
I don't need windows - just gun ports.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
I would say that linux would be a superior choice to windows for a car. Less re-starting.
Have the author heard of window tint that can block 90% of IR?
How else will the occupants be able to play GTA while on the road?
Windows is something no car should have. What happens if there's a critical system update while you're driving or else a blue screen of death? And do I need 3 more tires to upgrade between versions? ...but I'm not sure everyone will understand. Is there a good car analogy?
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
The passengers in a plane do not need windows but clearly because planes have windows at considerable cost to design properly (remember the Dehavilland Comet?) there's clearly a want for them to be there.
Passengers in cars will want the option of looking out. One can even argue that scenic drives with an autonomous car would be much safer because there's no driver to split his attention between the view and the act of operating the vehicle.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
No windows, door doesn't open from inside, but maybe you can peek out between the slats. Arbeit macht frei, Liebchen. (Godwin's Law)
But we still have them there.
Conclusion: cars will continue to have windows.
Real question - will the cameras in a driver-less car store their images and will those images be retrievable
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Without windows it'll seem just like the parent's basement, but without Windows.
Of course robot driven cars will need windows, windows that will open. How else can you roll down the window and throw things at pedestrians?
There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
It will need a window... and a hatch... with explosive bolts.
Didn't early astronauts demand that the capsule have a window? And despite airlines predictions of screens instead of windows travelers still don't want to fly in a plane without them. Windows add engineering complexity but nobody besides lazy engineers and bean counters care. Everyone else wants to see the view.
its much easier to break glass than to try and get throu metal with no tools
Do you drive your house? Why do you have windows there? Do you drive the plane? Why are there windows there? And carsickness. I mean sure, it's great to ask questions, but the windows on a car aren't just for the driver to know where they are going.
I figure that eventually, windows will go by the wayside, and there will be projector screens on the inside where the windows used to be.
People still have windows in their houses even though they aren't strictly necessary. My guess would be that there will be fewer, more understated windows. Police are gonna be pissed that 1) they can't make money writing tickets anymore because the cars all do what they're supposed to and 2) they can't see inside to see if you're black or not.
I'm sure that the article that I didn't read has more thoughts about car re-design than just windows, but I wouldn't know without investing the time to read the article.
Buses and airplanes both have windows that serve no purpose for the driver. I think people would not be comfortable being conveyed around without being able to look out, at least not all people. Conversely, windows provide a means for people in the surrounding environment to see what is going on in the vehicle. I for one hate people driving around in cars with heavily tinted windows that allow them to see out but don't allow others around them to see in. Setting oneself in a position to observe others without being observed is assuming a position of privilege or superiority that really rankles some people (including me).
Don't we have windows for passengers? I am sure autonomous cars will have passengers, right? Many magazines have filler articles to fill the space for publication and this seems like one. Even airplanes have windows where there is only thin air outside.
There are plenty of reasons (beyond merely operating the vehicle) to need windows:
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Not enough crashes without it?
Daybreakers!
High performance flat screen monitors with inertial sync'd real-time videos flying at light speed through the cosmos being chased by Vulture Droids... I will be looking forward to my compute.
...when we are not ready to mitigate every single scenario in which a human driver would need to take over and drive in an emergency?
I mean seriously, we're not even close to answering that. Therefore, humans will still need things like windows and mirrors.
They may still happen - is it easier to break a window to extricate you or slice open the body of a vehicle?
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
So I think people like to see what's going on outside.
Yes, the pilot/driver needs to see outside but none of the passengers need to see outside. And yet they always have windows because people like to look outside.
Why would a driverless car be any different?
Next issue.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
How will the robot dog stick its head out of the window?
Airliners only need one set of windows at the front, for the pilots. But there's a row of windows on either side, and the seats next to those windows are the second-most-popular (after those on the aisle) despite the fact that they're the most difficult to get in and out of, have no access to the overhead bins, and offer less head/foot room. See also: trains, buses, passenger ferries. So I think the answer is yes: robot cars will still have windows.
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Captain Scarlet had it right .. not only did the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle not have any windows, the occupants had rearward facing seats to better protect them in the case of a crash, and they used video monitors to view where they were driving.
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If there's no driver, will the passengers want to look outside?
What an asinine question. You don't need windows on buildings but they have them because PEOPLE WANT TO SEE OUTSIDE!!! And buildings don't even move. They added a window to the freaking Mercury capsules to get a better view. Yes there will be windows on automated vehicles.
Boeing and Airbus are playing with the idea of a synthetic window, where a camera provides an image to the window. However, they don't prevent airsickness. How about the autonomous cars we use every day, like subways and trains? Those still have windows for some reason too. Autonomous cars will have windows.
Last time I was in a plane, they had windows for passengers. Most passengers will either choose a window seat or an aisle. Most don't want a middle seat. I personally like the window seat behind the wing, so I can observe the flight control surfaces, and, of course, keep out a look for gremlins.
Beyond that I think we will still need windows that roll down. On mild days it is nice to have a breeze. Also, unless these cars are leased and broken ones are traded back immediately, the air conditioning will go out and there is not always $1000 to fix it. Also people just tend to be control freaks and like to see where they are going.
I would also advocate for panoramic sunroofs. One problem with the new fangled electric cars is that you can't get a convertible, which makes them totally worthless.
I am sure someone will make a sealed box because it will be cheaper and more energy efficient. I suspect a fully automatic car will be more like the back of limo with facing seats or perhaps the back of a RR saloon. It could be that tastes are going to change over time and such a vehicle will seem the norm, much like the living room style of a mini van or and SUV seems the norm. Video cameras will pipe the outside in, and overlays with trivia will make a long ride seems more enjoyable. Cars designs do evolve, and windows will eventually be passe. I am not sure if that will happen in two generations or three. I hope that when it does, we also have hovercars.
Will 2 seater sport drones combined with a tesla home batttery be filled enough to go home after work, and is its virtual airspace visible in the windshield showing the other drone owners.
They do need windows.
Not driving, no windows, in motion and potentially reading? That all adds up to motion sickness. (Time up up my stock in Tums!)
Passengers don't drive trains. Yet they still have windows! Shocking.
Gorilla glass dome affixed to a conventional-enough drivetrain and suspension. The glass dome features different zones of Smart Tint that allow for different levels of privacy. The interior consists of 1-4 very comfortable seats/couches that auto-swivel into turns so that your inertia always pushes you toward the back of the seat (instead of sideways in a fixed seat). There's very generous space between passengers and the protective dome since drivers won't need to come into contact with the control surfaces. It's all be done with AppleWatch type devices, or voice activated. The extra space will be used for secondary "comfort suspension" and energy absorption during crashes. Upward deploying airbags offer protection and cover 360 of the passenger space, likely deployed in 90 zones with conventional collision detection hardware. Aerodynamics will give way to interior comfort considerations. This will all be rationalized (and realized?) by the argument that autonomous driving results in far greater fuel economy. Particularly when traffic is 100% autonomous and doesn't need to completely stop for cross-traffic.
We have windows in all sorts of passenger vehicles where the windows serve no purpose to the operation of the vehicle. If find it rather strange that a passenger would only look out the window because someone is driving the car. On car rides I regularly stare out out the window and watch the world. If you don't like the sun, add an optional window shade.
Windows also also passengers to keep track of where they *actually* are. If a robot car is making a huge error in its route, I would like to know about it. Much like I would like to know if a cabbie is taking me on a strange route to run up the fare.
Anyone else sick of driving a REAL car and NOT being able to see around super-oversized SUVs at a safe following distance?
Unless these driverless cars have roofs that stop at the hood height, yes, you need transparent windows dumbass.
taxi drivers
"Will robot cars need windows?" is a stupid question, much like "Will humans need cars?"
Answer: Technically no, but it's not about what is needed, it's about what is desired.
Yes. Next question.
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Why do dogs need to stick their head out of the window in a moving car?
Serious question.
A self-driving car will still need windows in case the human driver ever needs to take over. But the windows could certainly have privacy shades. Other things we'd no longer need for robot cars are street signs, stop lights, and lane markers. You might argue that we'd need to keep those things for the people choosing to drive themselves but my question would be how long should the rest of us finance billions in infrastructure for a diminishing number of holdouts?
That's why I think self-driving cars are going to take over a lot faster than most people imagine. There are significant costs to maintain infrastructure for human drivers. Not to mention the insurance implications when it starts costing significantly more to drive yourself.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I like the seats on the cross-country trains (VIA up here in Canada). They have pairs of seats that can swivel, to make them face another pair of seats. A fold out table creates a nice surface for a nice game of cards, or whatever you fancy. You could even have meetings while driving to a destination. So many possibilities when you don't have to stare at the back of someone's head!
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
Airplanes and cruise ships don't *need* windows, yet they are installed at great expense. It'd be a lot easier to build an airliner without having to cut a hundred holes in the fuselage then cover and seal the holes with windows.... yet no one wants to fly in a windowless tube, just like no one will want to ride in a windowless car -- LCD panels and cameras aren't quite the same as a live view through a window.
Start with a Tesla Model S chassis and mount one of those Tea Cups you find in amusement parks. That would be interesting.
with explosive bolts.
This became the default option in 2018 as the seemingly endless Jebvilles began to line the LA/SF Xpress+ Corridor.
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Yes, they do.
An early example of getting it wrong was the City & South London Railway, the first deep-level underground rail line in London. The designers of the rolling stock didn't bother with windows because there was, supposedly, nothing to see. Passengers hated the "padded cells". Even if all you see is tunnel walls rushing by, people need to see outside.
I could see the utility of an airliner with no windows but cameras and viewing screens - it would solve some engineering problems - but for a car, the simplest is still the best. Windows.
...laura
The Atlantic has an article asking whether autonomous cars need windows....
There are windows on space capsules.
There are windows on railroad passenger cars.
There are windows in houses.
.
My guess is that people, in general, like to look outside.
Not only do I want to see where I'm going, but I get car sick if I don't have a source of fresh air blowing in my face. The AC of the car isn't good enough, if anything it gets me sicker.
Why can't we just have a mirrored film screen which uses the cameras to project the outside view?
This could be the entire length of the cabin all the way round.
It would feel OK when you got in it but you would be looking at a metal coffin from the outside in - unless you do the same thing on the outside (screens to project the inside out).
If a car is not designed to carry passengers it does not need windows, but then what is the purpose? I'm excluding trucks and delivery vehicles here to focus on 'passenger' cars. I suppose you really don't need windows, but provide another way to see outside or some other VR imagery with cameras and organic LED displays inside the car. Take a cross country or long haul trip, turn off the lights and sleep - this gives 'catching the red eye' a whole new meaning.
As many others have pointed out, the windows serve many purposes beyond aiding the driver. In fact there is very little in a car (other than the controls and instrument panel) that are specifically intended for the driver (mirrors maybe?). A better question would be, what could change in a passengerless vehicle (package or pizza delivery, street cleaner, snow plow, Google Street View camera car, etc)?
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If we get rid of the windows, can I get 2 more FM presets and 8 more XM presets? Maybe I don't need radio at all if I am not driving. I can just watch Cinemax if there are no windows.
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
But you can always install windows on them if that is what you want.
Windows can be broken and used for emergency exists in the case of accidents. Hopefully have the cars automated will cut down on accidents (is it still an accident if a hacker reprograms a car to purposefully hit other objects?).
No, but who would want to live in it. Why would you want to drive around in a coffin.
There WILL be a driver, they WILL need to see outside. Seriously where do you people come up with this crap? Let's just put people inside a closed metal box they can't see out of and have zero control over. Yeah sure great idea, what nightmare Universe did you come from anyway?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
If there's no driver, will the passengers want to look outside?
Yes. It's not drivers that make people want to look outside.
In the summer, will anyone want to endure the relentless heat from the sun?
This is in "The Atlantic" ???? I can see this statement coming from California, but there's lots of places in the world where it can be quite mild in the summer. Plus, metal heats up too; better to install one-way windows.
Right now, there are requirements about what kind of glass can be used in the windshield and front windows of a vehicle; for fully autonomous vehicles, I can see this requirement going away, assuming the vehicle is prominently labeled as autonomous.
The robot cars offer us a great opportunity to rethink the platform which is largely devoted to supporting the driver. But if a computer is in charge and it sees with dozens of cameras ringing the car, what else can we change? What else don't we need? What can improve?
OK: let's look at this from a sane standpoint instead of the disconnected thoughts from the original article.
In an autonomous vehicle, no driver is needed. That means that all the functions that are tied directly to the driver/navigator are no longer needed. Anything that's currently a requirement elsewhere in the vehicle will still be a requirement. Vans are often driven by a single driver, and have no windows beyond the windshield and front side windows. So the difference between a van and say, a minivan, will show you what features are needed purely for the passengers.
That said, with "retina" displays these days, it shouldn't be too long before windows can be replaced with something that provides a full 360 degree video feed of what's happening outside the car. This would help people with motion sickness beyond what is currently provided in cars. As an added bonus, you could swap out the "real" feed for some other location, etc, syncing up the movement part, but providing a more visually pleasing scene. You could also add more information to the display as desired by the passengers, block off part of it as a display for their mobile device or in-vehicle entertainment system, etc.
Basically, the inside of a vehicle could become an Omnimax theater.
Also, we currently have all the seats facing forward. It's possible that without the need for the driver to face forward, all seats could face the rear, which would possibly result in fewer whiplash cases in the case of front-end collisions.
I'm sure people could think of many more things that could be done to the interior if the "driver's pod" no longer existed.
no windows? does this mean we have to take permission from car to get out? we are making prison for ourselves and they are over taking us!
If somebody else hits me, it's obviously not my fault, so why would I ever need insurance, aside from things like theft or natural disasters?
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Many years ago in a Donald Duck comic, Gyro Gearloose's autonomous cars were panned by the mayor and city council of Duckburg for not having windows.
Prescient writers.
Why not Linux instead?
On the one hand, you could black out the windows for privacy. On the other hand, many police departments have a hard time with blacked out windows.
I'd say not only would windows be nice but the option to take down the roof as well.
Of course I enjoy driving far too much to ever give that up to an automated vehicle. I've been keeping a spider (MR-S) for a while because I really enjoy driving with the roof down. And even though the MR-S is used and beat up and mostly stock I keep it despite the fact my primary vehicle is a tuned GT86 just because it's a blast to drive an MR with the roof down.
If you ask me all these people who are pushing for automated cars should drive an 86/BRZ or an S660 or a Lotus or some other drivers car and see if they reconsider wanting to get rid of the "hassle" of driving. Don't get me wrong; certain automation can be good (EG: Subaru EyeSight) but at the end of the day the actual act of driving should be something enjoyable.
Your dog is deprived of a simple pleasure. Hooray for you.
My dog arrives safely at his destination and won't become a 50lb projectile that could kill both of us in an accident. He also won't get any debris in his eyes that I'll have to have a vet remove later. My dog has plenty of joy in his life and I promise you will not know he missed anything by keeping his head inside the window.
this question makes no sense...
No, they'll run on Linux.
no, I don't have a sig
...Instead of have my hands constantly on the wheel, I must have my hands constantly on the ctrl+alt+del?
Police still need to see inside the vehicle.
Nuff said.
You are correct, I do use the non-driver side back seat window. But the driver side back seat window is totally blocked by my head rest and not viewable.
What do you drive? I'd like to make a note never to buy that car because I've never been in a vehicle I couldn't turn my head and see out the driver's side rear window well enough to make useful driving decisions. Certainly never such that I was blocked by the headrest. The B-pillar sometimes gets in the way but not the seat itself.
There have been proposals to eliminate the windows in airliners, substituting projected video images from cameras on the outer skin, even perhaps extending to an cockpit with a projected view in all directions. Just search for "windowless airliner". For a take on self driving cars, view dystopian future of the Woody Allen movie "Sleeper", when cars of the future have frosted canopies with a small clear forward peek-out/peek-in area on he front.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I take the train I don't drive it and they still put windows on the cars. The passenger area of a commercial airliner also has windows. What would I want to take the windows out of a self-driving car? I like to see where I am and where I'm going even when I'm not in charge of getting myself there.
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when the computer is taken over by a zero day exploit and is now careening towards the harbor along with 10,000 other cars, I want to see death approach, and possibly try to kick out the window and escape. You know, minor things.
Many of us have adjusted our side mirrors correctly, to point far more outwards than what most people do. Or even attach dead angle mirrors.
And some of us do that AND look directly to ensure what is behind us is actually clear because even well adjusted mirrors sometimes don't permit full elimination of blind spots in many vehicles.
Never depend on being able to watch out the rear side window. That's a bad habit you need to stop.
We're going to disagree on that. If I have visibility in any direction outside of a vehicle I'm going to make full use of it when circumstances allow me to do so safely. I would say you should never ignore any means of increasing your situational awareness. There are times when it is 100% appropriate to use rear windows to observe what is going on around your vehicle while driving. There also are times when you absolutely shouldn't. Good drivers know the difference.
It may be blocked or not even there (pickup trucks).
If it isn't there then it isn't an issue. There are some cars that have absolutely terrible visibility but that doesn't mean you don't use it when you have it.
And by turning your head, you lose sight of what's even more dangerous - what's ahead of you.
Pro-tip: You don't turn your head when there is a reasonable probability of hitting something in front of you. If turning your head for long enough to check your blind spot is dangerous in all cases then you aren't a very good driver because it should only take a fraction of a second and can easily be done quite safely. Some vehicles simply are not equipped well enough to eliminate blind spots and the ability to check directly and safely is an important driving skill. Ideally it shouldn't be necessary but the simple fact is that sometimes it is required in the real world.
You need windows for a gozillion different reasons but the most important is to shatter them and escape when the door is stuck/deformed after an accident. Robot cars will not get in accidents a lot, but when they do, you'll want to get out somehow.
Haven't yet seen anyone mention that some of the people who will appreciate having to do even less when being transported, will still need to access fast-food drivethroughs.
Why not keep the windows, but change the tinting laws and the materials the windows are made of? Right now, windows are made of specific materials and are kept, by law, at specific tint levels because of driver visibility. But when driver visibility is no longer an issue, those tint level requirements are bunk. Tint all the things to keep the interiors cooler, but still allow passengers to look out.
Also, change the materials used from glass to more resilient, generally safer polycarb. The tint used will keep the material from yellowing over time like those headlight covers do, the flexibility in the polycarbonate will help to deflect the vast majority of road debris that would usually result in cracked, pierced or even shattered windshields, and the polycarbonate would be considerably lighter than the glass it's replacing, resulting in more efficient vehicles. (Coincidentally, all of the listed reasons are why most race car "glass" is actually polycarb.) Poly windows would also reduce car thefts. Good luck shattering that for a smash and grab.
"What about egress in case of a submerged-in-water incident?" Keep a hole punch somewhere in your car and use it. You don't need to break out the window, you just need to make a way for water to enter more quickly so pressure can equalize sooner and you can open the door and get out sooner.
A better option than no windows would be "automatic shades" that make the windows opaque if the passengers choose to do so. Windows serve a lot more function than just giving the driver a field of view. Not everyone likes AC and many of us like to drive with the windows open, but being able to block the windows with an opaque tint would have its benefit too.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
Even a subway has windows. It is fairly well known that people need to be able to see out of the box they are in for reasons such as motion sickness, claustrophobia, and various psychological reasons.
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A full bar.
Until you have a car bar you don't have self driving car.
Home Chevy.
Commercial airplanes have windows passengers don't "need"
Trains also have windows that passengers don't "need"
Limos, buses and taxi's all have windows passengers don't "need"
Cruise ships and other floating vessels have windows passengers don't "need"
Even stationary things like buildings and tunnels have windows their occupants don't "need"
Don't ask stupid questions when the answers already exist.
How the hell am I gonna be able to watch and whistle at females without a fucking window ?!?
Needs a closet, shower, sink and a shitter. Crawl out of bed and use the work commute to handle my morning constitutionals.
humans need sunlight
No, they're not. Why, you ask? Because they're heavier than windows, and so will increase fuel costs. "Windowless" first class section, maybe. Same screens used in cattle class to play non-stop ads, possibly if it offsets the cost of the fuel and increases overall profits. But wall screens like these being used merely to provide an outside view in the entire passenger section of regularly scheduled commercial flights? You'll get your flying car before you see that happen.
People inside a metal box during summer will die if the a/c fails and there are no windows to roll down to cool them off.
Picture the first vehicle to reach it's destination and doors open up and all occupants are dead due to heat exhaustion. All for lack of a window.
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Why would anyone put windows in a car...? If its driverless though, it should run better ;)
Windows offer a way out in the event of a crash.
Windows allow light to enter.
Windows allow the ocupants to see what is going on around them.
the list goes on.
haven't we seen enough windows problems people!!
Automated cars need a toilet. And a mini-fridge. Michigan to Florida non-stop.
-- WTF are they doing that? Is this search related? How?
-- Robot Cars Don't Need Windows.
-- Oh.
No, but how about offering a "choice", windows that darken when requested and also allow the passenger to look out if desired.
That seems to be the main component missing in everything new these days (especially software)... a choice.
Instead we are forced/told how it will be, and with copyrights escalation to included firmwares and anything else an user might change... well I leave you to think about the implications.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
It will be really awkward at the Sonic Drive-in with no windows :(
...You need Windows for AD integration of your vehicle.
How about when the first sd car encounters water overflowing the roadway and it doesn't sense it.
As you are swept into the rushing waters and the car begins filling up, how do you get out if you have no window to break?
Why would coach buses need windows? Or trains? Or buildings?
they will.
Otherwise my car window drapery business is going nowhere fast.
They're either gonna need windows, or the strongest form of Scotchguard ever devised by humanity...
"The robot cars offer us a great opportunity to rethink the platform which is largely devoted to supporting the driver. But if a computer is in charge and it sees with dozens of cameras ringing the car, what else can we change? What else don't we need? What can improve?"
For the sake of this discussion, I'm going to assume we're talking about some theoretical future when we decide we pretty much don't need mechanical controls at all, even for emergency, because our technology is so awesome. I think we're not quite as close to that as we'd like to believe, but that's another discussion. :)
There isn't much you couldn't do with this type of flexibility. Your limiting factors are only handling and aerodynamics. Virtually everything about the shape of a contemporary passenger car is optimized for the driver. You don't need a steering column that goes down to the steering rack. Heck, why even have a steering rack, let's just let the computer steer each wheel individually. Then you don't have big heavy error-prone linkages moving back and forth, just a small electric motor on each articulated wheel, and your robot can do almost organic feats of handling impossible in a traditionally-steered car (not to mention a human driver would have difficulty with that many axii of control even if the vehicle were capable of it). Modern power steering systems have already switched from hydraulic pumps to electric motors anyway.
You don't need a throttle linkage either, even in the real world those went out of style like 10 years ago, so your throttle plate is likely already driven by another small electric motor (usually a stepper motor I think).
Brake systems are still hydraulic (as an aside, note that the parts we regard as most critical to safety are the *last* to be made easier to break a.k.a. "modernized" in the ways we're discussing here). But I'm guessing that a system which doesn't need to respond to a pressure control, and doesn't need to meet certain NHTSA requirements, would likely eschew the hydraulics entirely in favor of perhaps something more like a bench vise, similar to ordinary disc brake calipers but driven by twisting a screw with extremely high mechanical advantage, instead of a master and slave cylinder arrangement. Again, maybe an ideal arrangement for an electric motor, as long as it's fast enough to ensure responsive application and release.
"Responsive" brings up another interesting question. To a great degree, you can work around hardware limitations in the software too. Nobody cares exactly how responsive their throttle is unless they're pressing on the pedal and wondering why the engine takes so long to build power. So you could possibly get away with less power and handling that isn't as tight, just by making sure the computer knows to drive within it's limits. It's shocking how much of your engine's internal design and external support systems work to give you a nice, smooth response from that pedal.
So...no brake lines, brake fluid, steering fluid & lines, even steering rack, don't care where the passengers are positioned or what they can see, don't need steering wheel, pedals, mechanical instrumentation (did you know that until the last decade or two, your speedometer was driven by something that looks like your kid's bike's brake cables, and your oil pressure gauge actually had an oil line coming from the engine into the back of your gauge cluster?). What I hoped to illustrate with all my detail is exactly how much of a normal car is organized around the driver. To keep things simple, compact, cheap, easy to make, you want the controls near the things they control, and the driver obviously needs to be at the controls, and that dependency graph dictates the shape of a modern car. For example there isn't much else stopping your honda civic from having a mid-engine rear-wheel drive layout like an exotic sports car, with the performance advantages that brings (no I don't mean it'll magically gain an extra 500 HP like a Ferrari, but it
In the future individuals won't be able to own cars, instead they will be all supplied by businesses who need to MAKE ends MEET so like MODERN sporting EVENT the car WILL BE FILLED WITH LOUD MUSIC AND ADVERTS AND THE WALLS WILL BE FILLED WITH RAPIDLY CHANGING ADS AND WINDOWS WILL ONLY TAKE AWAY FROM THE AVAILABLE AD SPACE AND THIS BOMBARDMENT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL we have reached your destination, thank you for using Rent-A-Car.
Yes, for the same reason computers do, for bling, otherwise no one would buy them.
Only if they want the cars to crash! I hear if they have 10, it should be much better, and able to be used on cars big and small. Pry still buggy and crash prone. Why would you want your car to crash?
Bah
What a silly question. Do trains need windows for the passengers? Or planes? People like to look outside, so of course there will be windows.
I like my coffee the way I like my women - roasted and ground up into little tiny pieces.
Of course they will need Windows. You need to be able to see the BSOD in the event of a crash
With this logic, aircraft have never needed windows in the passenger area. Yet only some freight aircraft are low in windows, most have 2 per passenger row.
Trains? Buses? TFA is idiotic.
Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
What do I need less, windows or a windowless robot car?
I love the idea of self-driving cars and I want one. I also want it to look like and be drivable like a normal car. Following the argument in the article, why should airplanes have windows (except for the pilots)?
You can also get nice harnesses that clip in like a seatbelt and keep the dog from being a projectile. And he can still stick his head out the window.
If he can still stick his head out the window the harness is not secured tightly enough to keep him from becoming a projectile. A harness with a long tether is pointless in a car because he can still be launched. It would be functionally identical to having a seatbelt for you with several feet of slack - you may as well not wear one at that point. Plus it doesn't keep him from getting debris in his eyes. There is a very good reason why we have windshields or why drivers wear goggles when a windshield is not present. Those same reasons apply to dogs.
Or I can just keep his head inside the window and not have to buy a stupid accessory for my dog while keeping him safe and secure. I promise you that there is no need for him to stick his head out the window of a moving car. My dog likes to do all sorts of things that are not safe. Just because he might enjoy it doesn't make it a good idea.
Airliners, trains, buses, subway cars. Do passengers want windows? What do you think?
I clicked on this article expecting it to be another instance of Microsoft deciding to play follow the leader, that if Google is making a Google autonomous car, then drat it all, we must have a Windows Car! Even though that makes no sense! I was going to say, frack no, robotic cars definitely do not need Windows, please god no.
The answer to the actual question posed, is of course, no they don't technically *need* windows... you don't *need* to give passengers in busses or trains or airplanes windows, either, but you do it anyway, because natural light is good, and because, yes, why *wouldn't* we want to look outside? (Also because there still needs to be a way to take manual control in case of emergency, in which case we'd need to be able to see out for that.)
First off, this topic reminded me of a funny YouTube video I saw recently, you'll have to look it up if interested as I can't link it. But it involved a Dad with a batman mask, in a van, with two kids in the back.
Kid1: (in a whiny voice) "The DVD player isn't working..."
BatDad: (in BatVoice) "When I was your age, all I had to amuse myself was looking out the windows"
Kid1: "That must of sucked...."
So one might argue, that the entertainment portion of windows in cars may have been eclipsed by media.
Having said that, there is a safety issue. While windows no doubt add structural weakness into any design, on the occurrence of an accident, it is easier for a first responder to locate victims, and also to remove them possibly through a broken window should doors be jammed shut.
If you use windows, won't you crash?
Better question, IMHO, will they need headlights? I see the shuttle trains going around airports like SFO, SEA, DFW ... no drivers, yet they have head and tail lights. Ummm ... Why?
Even better better question. Will you even need passengers? I can envision mom or dad dispatching that family auto, empty, to go pick Timmy up at school and taking him to soccer practice.
Do trains have windows? Do RVs have windows? Airplanes? ... yes, you dunce; they'll need windows. Maybe just not the large, wide field of vision type that we have now...
Who comes up with this crap?
1. If there are no windows, I will not know if I am lost or not. Relying on Google to get me there is not always reliable. There have been times it confuses left and right.
2. Presuming "windows are not needed" is arrogance to the extreme. The day I presume an "intelligent" machine can get me safely to a destination, I may as well be dead in a coffin or "spam in a can" as the astronauts put it.
Having the windows eliminated and replaced with flexible/form fitting screens that are impact safe would be an improvement. The people won't miss anything, and the motion sickness will be 10x worse.
Learn to love Alaska
I know I'd want to look out of a window while I travel - no matter who or what is driving. Perhaps there will be options to press a button and turn your window into a movie screen. Or a holographic computer monitor to klak while you drive, or, even better, game while you drive! HEY! I said it first!
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
That's a pretty stupid question.
No,
It's not a matter of windows, it's a matter of the citizen's freedom. There are a lot of people that hate freedom (at least for others) and will try to "stamp it out" at the first chance they get. And personal automobiles are the essence of freedom.
What is really wanted, by some, is to ship the passengers in a packing crate! Yikes! 8-)
After the hacker takes control of the robot car and crashes it, you'll wish you had windows.
Imagine this.
You're in an automated car, driving home from a party.
Patch Tuesday rolls up and it's a bad one. 30 patches, which if all applied at the same time will brick your car for 30 minutes and reboot 5 times.
You're on a cliff road and the car is at the speed limit.
Do you wish you had windows now?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --