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Japan May Be First Country To Have Self-Driving Cars (theoutline.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the time-is-of-the-essence dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Outline: The Olympic Games are an international muscle-flexing competition, where countries show off their technological, architectural, and (oh yeah) athletic prowess to the rest of the world. Now, according to Reuters, Japan is promising a public system of self-driving cars in time for the for the 2020 Olympics, which it's hosting in Tokyo. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Monday that the investment company SoftBank Group is investing $2.25 billion in order to develop the Cruise, the self driving car acquired by General Motors back in 2016. The country's goal is to have a fully functioning self-driving car system in time for the 2020 Olympics, and a more developed, privatized commercial self-driving car system by 2022. The Cruise has been tested in the U.S. since 2017, but Abe said that it would also be tested on Japanese roads by the end of this fiscal year.

46 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Predicted stipulation by AlanObject · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think they can do this, but I bet the self-driving cards will be strictly limited to pre-computed routes.

    Also I would expect the routes to be augmented to accommodate self-driving cars. And not on the freeway.

    The thing about driving in Japan is that off the freeways and major roadways space becomes incredibly restricted. Taxis (which are all very good) will take you down neighborhood streets so narrow that you can reach the vending machines on the side of the road from inside the taxi.

    For all of that they know how to follow rules there. If anyone can do this they can.

    1. Re: Predicted stipulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Job number one for the Olympics, though, should be getting their women to trim that bush

    2. Re:Predicted stipulation by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Japanese streets are narrow, but they don't allow on-street parking, so the full street is available for driving.

      Before you can buy a car in Tokyo, you need to provide proof that you own or are leasing an off-street parking space.

      I can see self-driving taxis working well there. There are lots of people who don't own a car, and they are already short on labor so "robots stealing jobs" is not an issue.

    3. Re: Predicted stipulation by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Job number one for the Olympics, though, should be getting their women to trim that bush

      The reason Japanese women don't trim their chitsus is that for many years Japanese censors banned the display of pubic hair in pornography. So porn stars (and many prostitutes) shaved, but "nice girls" did not.

      The ban has been repealed, but the cultural expectations are still around.

    4. Re: Predicted stipulation by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      In Japan during the American occupation someone asked what constituted pornography and what didn't. The American responded that if you can see pubic hair then it was porn. So if there was no pubic hair then it must not be porn, QED! Which is why adult anime and manga didn't draw pubic hair, because it wasn't "porn" that way no matter how detailed it was in other aspects.

    5. Re:Predicted stipulation by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Doesn't mean they need to be allowed anywhere around the public.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    6. Re:Predicted stipulation by eobanb · · Score: 1

      Japanese streets are narrow, but they don't allow on-street parking, so the full street is available for driving.

      That's very wrong; it's not as universal in Japan as in the US, but parallel parking is still quite common.

      --

      Take off every sig. For great justice.

    7. Re:Predicted stipulation by BrianMarshall · · Score: 1

      ,,,streets so narrow that you can reach the vending machines on the side of the road from inside the taxi.

      In case you want, say, a beer, which is available in vending machines in Japan.

      --
      "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -- HST
    8. Re: Predicted stipulation by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      For many years Japanese censors banned the display of pubic hair in pornography.

      They don't allow pubic hair but they allow tentacle rape. Weird country.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    9. Re:Predicted stipulation by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      What the hell is a takadanobaba?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    10. Re:Predicted stipulation by Peter+P+Peters · · Score: 2

      I think they can do this, but I bet the self-driving cards will be strictly limited to pre-computed routes.

      It's actually a really good use case since the Olympics will have a large number of people travelling only between fixed points, so you could effectively map out the top 10-20 locations with fixed routes and only allows robot cars on those roads. The Japanese are also already polite and robot friendly, so this could work out well.

    11. Re: Predicted stipulation by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      It's more to do with hair removal in that region being a pain in the... Quite literally.

      Shaving requires a lot of maintenance work. Depending on body shape it can be easier or harder to do, particularly for men. Other hair removal methods are more expensive and things like hot wax treatment is quite painful too.

      And since most people don't display their genitals and by the time anyone else gets to see them their shaved/not shaved status is largely irrelevant there just isn't much incentive to do so.

      Also, a bad shave job is worse. It's like sand paper. There is a reason they supply face razors at the love hotels.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    12. Re:Predicted stipulation by bluegutang · · Score: 1

      Or better yet, buses or trains. Single passenger cars are an incredibly inefficient way of transporting large number of people between a handful of sites.

    13. Re:Predicted stipulation by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Takatanobaba is a neighborhood in Tokyo.

    14. Re:Predicted stipulation by vtcodger · · Score: 1

      The Japanese are really quite remarkable, and maybe they can make vehicle autonomy work on a two year timeline. But it's not going to be easy. My guess is that autonomous vehicles will be confined to streets with sidewalks and that bicycles, pedestrians, etc will be strictly segregated from the cars according to some set of rules somehow comprehensible to humans and to rather dimwitted vehicles. Not that vehicles and other users can't share narrow roads, but two years isn't a lot of time to work out how to do that

      --
      You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
    15. Re:Predicted stipulation by Peter+P+Peters · · Score: 1

      Or better yet, buses or trains. Single passenger cars are an incredibly inefficient way of transporting large number of people between a handful of sites.

      Yeah your average road can handle something like 2000 vehicles per hour, with and average of 1.2 people per car making roughly 2500 people/hour. The best trains can move 80000/hour. It's a no-brainer but our town planners seem to get recruited directly form kindergarten.

  2. Ha! by Mikkeles · · Score: 1

    Too late; they're already here in the US.

    --
    Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
    1. Re:Ha! by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      Sure but we use them to cull the population. Japan will actually use them for driving.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  3. Self-Driving cars don't work well enough by jgordon510 · · Score: 1

    They're not as safe as people driving cars, which currently achieve 1.25 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles. They won't be that safe for a long time, and they need to be a lot safer, since we won't find them nearly as forgivable.

    1. Re:Self-Driving cars don't work well enough by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Down modded for dispensing facts. Too bad they were inconvenient facts for people with mod points.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  4. Singapore to get them first? by Strudelkugel · · Score: 2

    I thought Singapore was supposed to have them first, but I don't know the latest status.

    --
    Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings! -Feynman, maybe
  5. Japan: "Take one for the team." by Pezbian · · Score: 1

    It's just how they are, thank heavens.

    --
    In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
  6. Learn walking before running by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    I think they can do this, but I bet the self-driving cards will be strictly limited to pre-computed routes.

    This should be the way all self-driving vehicle systems start out. Many co's are byting off more than they can chew. Bot-Goes-Wrong stories often grow to big news these days, partly out of automation anxiety.

    Using pre-mapped routes reduces the chance of problems and the nasty news that results. As kinks are worked out and trust (hopefully) grows, expanding to general routes could gradually follow.

    [Existing taxis] will take you down neighborhood streets so narrow that you can reach the vending machines on the side of the road from inside the taxi.

    Sounds like a good thing if you are hungry or thirsty while stuck in traffic. Although, something tells me it's illegal.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Learn walking before running by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      We got used to trains, buses, cars, and planes despite some wild and crazy doomsday predictions. CEO's who hype safety are mostly taken with a grain salt.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Learn walking before running by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      But those previous deaths were caused by humans, however imperfect we are.

      Deaths caused by computers just fuels hollywood-type fears about machines.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re: Learn walking before running by mikaere · · Score: 1

      10% of Americans have been killed by automobiles ? I call bullshit on that.

      --
      It's good luck to be superstitious
  7. Amusement Park by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    Is anybody else wondering who will get the gold metal in the bumper car event?

  8. You know what's easier? by slashmydots · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You know what's easier, cheaper, more efficient, and doesn't require technology that won't exist until 2050? Monorails. Or basically anything on a rail. A freaking train even. Trollies. ANYTHING. You know how you get it to not hit something? Put it on a rail. Okay, so they can only go where there are rails. Great, build more rails. That's cheaper than building more self-driving cars. Japan has bullet trains and flawless public transportation of every kind.

    1. Re:You know what's easier? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      I have long thought that what is needed is a standardized 'pod' form of personal local travel vehicle. One that can travel to the rail line and be hooked onto a distance travel carrier of some sort. A battery powered vehicle with a fifty mile range would work well, so long as most destinations have a rail hub within 15-30 miles.

      People don't want to share their personal space with unknown and potentially smelly strangers. But a rail transport system could be created that allows people to own/lease/rent the passenger compartment of their choice.

    2. Re:You know what's easier? by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      You know what's easier, cheaper, more efficient, and doesn't require technology that won't exist until 2050? Monorails.

      Sorry, mom, the mob has spoken.

    3. Re:You know what's easier? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but in the USA bullets are responsible for a lot of deaths. So I'm not sure how we're supposed to trust a bullet the size of a train.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    4. Re:You know what's easier? by Peter+P+Peters · · Score: 1

      You know what's easier, cheaper, more efficient, and doesn't require technology that won't exist until 2050? Monorails. Or basically anything on a rail. Japan has bullet trains and flawless public transportation of every kind.

      I'm imagining the Robot car thing will just be for gimmick purposes. As you say Tokyo has a shit-ton of super efficient trains already that easily can move 10-20x more people than any road based solution.

    5. Re:You know what's easier? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Japan already has a lot of rail. It's so popular that it gets really crowded at peak times. They expand the platforms wherever possible to increase capacity.

      They have trams in some cities. I think there are a few in Tokyo, maybe in the north somewhere near Ikebukuro from memory. But it's hard to add more, with the road layout and traffic density they have. When new rail goes in it's usually elevated or underground. For example the Tsukuba Express line which was built about 15 years ago is a mixture of underground in central Tokyo and elevated as it gets further out.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    6. Re:You know what's easier? by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      and flawless public transportation

      Does the Tokyo subway system still make the New York subway smell good? It's been a little while.

  9. Re:Yes by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Yep, just as I thought. It's the "Monorail Song" from The Simpsons. In extremely low quality, I might add.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  10. Re:How well is Uber doing in Japan? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Japan is also the world leader in cheerleaders being raped by tentacles but it's also not in the news. What's your point?

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  11. Really? by mark_reh · · Score: 1

    Japan doesn't have self-driving commuter trains. They're going to put self driving cars on the road? hmmmm.

    I asked a friend why they still have drivers on trains and he said he thinks it is because they have to have someone to blame if there's an accident.

  12. Re:Yes by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    the lever you have pulled brakes is out of service please make a note of it

  13. Aren't we already.... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    Aren't we in year 7 of the "autonomous cars are five years away" predictions made back in 2012?

    It seems that people are still unaware of where the limits in software are.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    1. Re:Aren't we already.... by Kiwikwi · · Score: 1

      Autonomous cars were one year ago, though I admit it can be hard to remember with quacks like Uber and Tesla constantly making headlines. (Sorry, Japan. You can be second.)

    2. Re:Aren't we already.... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Autonomous cars were one year ago, I'm not sure what point you are making - your article says theirs a driver in the seat. From your link:

      The taxi service is not totally "self-driving." Waymo notes that "as part of this early trial, there will be a test driver in each vehicle monitoring the rides at all times."

      There isn't yet an autonomous car (as in, self-driving in conditions humans normally drive in). It will be big news when they are available.

      (Sorry, Japan. You can be second.)

      If Japan can figure this out, they'll be first. Although I'm guessing that they can't do it either,

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    3. Re:Aren't we already.... by number17 · · Score: 1

      Yes. Self-driving cars a reality for 'ordinary people' within 5 years, says Google's Sergey Brin

  14. Self-driving buses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    FWIW Switzerland already has free self-driving buses going around in the city of Sion in Valais...

  15. Not needed by HideyoshiJP · · Score: 1

    Nice. Self driving cars in the one nation that doesn't really need them (in the major cities). I can only imagine these will be primarily on main thoroughfares, as the streets within blocks are seriously cramped and have way too much mixed traffic (we're talking crawling 2-3mph through a sea of pedestrians and bicycles in busier areas.

  16. Will it work as well as their bobsleds? by dorpus · · Score: 1

    For the Winter Olympics, the Japanese government decided to build the "world's best bobsled", paying millions of dollars in consulting fees to a consortium of 120 companies including Toyota, Nissan, etc. with no experience in making bobsleds. The government also paid children's textbook companies, TV shows to portray the heroic craftsmen who built the sled. The actual product was built by no-name subcontractors in snow-free Tokyo, with a shoestring budget and no experience in bobsleds. The resulting bobsled was uncomfortable, dangerous, and slow, so the Japanese bobsled team refused to ride it. The bobsled was loaned on contract to the Jamaican women's bobsled team, except they hated it too and ended up using an old Latvian bobsled that they borrowed from the German team.

    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/n...

  17. Maybe the only place ... by fygment · · Score: 1

    Vandalism is very very rare in Japan. for sure wont happen in major north american cities.

    --
    "Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.