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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.

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      The ban has been repealed, but the cultural expectations are still around.

    2. 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.

  2. 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
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.