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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."

17 of 28 comments (clear)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  4. Wow by drjoe1e6 · · Score: 1

    This is heavy...

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    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...

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

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

  5. 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.

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  6. 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.

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

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

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    Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

    Vote for Bernie in 2016!

  8. 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 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.

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

    THIS.

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  10. 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!

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

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

    Accept no substitutes!

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  12. 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?"

  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.