Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Stanford's Autonomous DeLorean Can't Time Travel, But It Can Do Donuts (stanford.edu)

Posted by samzenpus on from the keep-your-eyes-on-the-road-your-hands-off-the-wheel dept.

Zothecula jumps on the "Back To the Future Day" bandwagon with this news about Stanford's experimental DeLorean. Gizmag reports: "It doesn't have a flux capacitor and may not be able to travel through time like its inspiration in the 1985 feature Back to the Future, but Stanford University's converted DeLorean Multiple Actuator Research Test bed for Yaw (MARTY) can cut some wicked donuts without the aid of a driver. The creation of professor of mechanical engineering Chris Gerdes and his students, the autonomous, electric, drifting automotive research vehicle is part of a student-driven research project into the physical limits of autonomous driving that aims to improve the safe operation of self-driving cars under all conditions."

28 comments

  1. So it can go in a circle? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Other than the obvious PR value of this being October 12th, 2015 what is the point of showing a video of a computer doing doughnuts with a car? I thought we already had autonomous vehicles that were tackling real problems like following the rules of the road, avoiding human idiots, and stuff like that?

    1. Re:So it can go in a circle? by Merk42 · · Score: 4, Funny

      October 12th? Did you use a time traveling DeLorean to post?

    2. Re:So it can go in a circle? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, just a mistype. Thanks captain obvious! :D

    3. Re:So it can go in a circle? by slashdice · · Score: 1

      In all fairness, this is the first time a DeLorean has been driven without parts falling off. They were the Tesla of their time.

      --
      Copyright (c) 1990 - 2014 Dice. All rights reserved. Use of this comment is subject to certain Terms and Conditions.
    4. Re:So it can go in a circle? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Dynamic driving where traction is lost is both difficult and a necessary problem to solve for self-drivers.

    5. Re:So it can go in a circle? by hummassa · · Score: 1

      THIS.

      --
      It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
    6. Re: So it can go in a circle? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Driverless racing?

  2. Can it fly? by khelms · · Score: 1

    Can I run it on a banana peel and some stale beer? Then what good is it?

  3. link to video by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    here's the video starting at the point where it does donuts.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:link to video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not doing donuts, it's drifting around a cone. There's a huge difference.

  4. Wow by drjoe1e6 · · Score: 1

    This is heavy...

    --
    Lose = not win ...... Loose = not tight
    1. Re:Wow by khelms · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is there something wrong with the Earth's gravity?

    2. Re:Wow by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here...

      --

      Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

      Vote for Bernie in 2016!

    3. Re:Wow by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      It's all the extra batteries from the electric conversion.

    4. Re: Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No Biff!

  5. When this Baby Hits 88 MPH... by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 2

    ...you're going to see some serious shit.

    --

    Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

    Vote for Bernie in 2016!

  6. Didn't RTFA, but I watched part of the video .. by kaka.mala.vachva · · Score: 1

    Why is the person in the driver seat holding a joystick on a self driving car?

    1. Re:Didn't RTFA, but I watched part of the video .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It doesn't look so much like a joystick as it looks like a potential emergency cutoff switch. If I were building a test vehicle, I'd definitely have a kill switch to ensure if it loses control, I'd be able to cut it off.

    2. Re:Didn't RTFA, but I watched part of the video .. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

      Looks like a deadman switch.

      If so, it has to be held down to let the computer keep doing what it wants to. That way, if the car does something that jars the backup driver away from the switch, the car stops, rather than continuing on some wild and dangerous runaway activity.

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  7. full social media saturation bombing by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    holy crap, I can't believe the amount of media coverage B2tF2 30 is getting.
    Dance for Robert Zemeckis slashdot, dance!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  8. Rear wheel drive, baby by sandbagger · · Score: 2

    Accept no substitutes!

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  9. Some Style by necro81 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Marty: "Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me that you built a (drifting autopilot test bed) ... out of a DeLorean?"

    Doc: "Yes, the way I see it, if you're gonna build a (drifting autopilot test bed) into a car, why not do it with some style?"

  10. The Stanford Team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I took a look at the team that constructed this vehicle. They were ALL cisgender white males. Why is slashdot posting this garbage? They are creating a toxic environment by focusing on cis white male activities. And these guys need to check their privilege.

    1. Re:The Stanford Team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Triggered.

  11. A car so renowned for it's superb handling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ^^

  12. An autonomous DeLorean... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...makes about as much sense as a Corvette with automatic transmission. Someone does not understand what a sports car is for.

  13. I hope that they'll use A TransAm... by havana9 · · Score: 1

    ... when they'll build a fully autonomous car. Black with tan seats, of course.