Anyone else watching the fascinating Horizon program on BBC2 about the developement of AI and autonomous cars. Really really interesting and amazing that computer games are so important to developing the systems because they are so greedy with processing power.
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2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

The programme was interesting but still left a lot of questions unanswered, especially in relation to logical autonomous cars sharing the roads with sometimes irrational drivers (and cyclists and pedestrians).

Interesting programme, but missed the ethics, and the huge consequences for private and corporate insurance and culpability. 

In addition, what are we going to do with the hundreds of thousands of professional drivers that currently exist in this country??? There's one for Jeremy to get his NHS teeth into!

Old Jock 2018 (MY19) Jaguar F-Pace R-Sport 300PS Petrol in Caesium Blue with many bells and whistles.
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I hope I never see the introduction of autonomous cars before I hang up my car keys. It can and will only result in total gridlock.

An autonomous car will never ever be programmed to take the "calculated risks" that we humans have to do multiple times a day to deal with the density of traffic we see all the time. What self-driving car will ever pull out half-way across a junction between queued cars when it is the only way to get out of a side street?

Do you fancy sitting behind one under such circumstances? MY2016 HSE D SDV6 - gone due to fuel dilution problems.

By the age of 50 you have the face you deserve - George Orwell.

It seems to me that apart from the rotating laser the only other way that these cars can detect where a carriageway starts and stops is using lane departure type system to detect the white lines on the margins of the roads (witness the Kia 5AI car and the racing car) that both tried to drive off the edge of the road when they lost the margin line.......... gives off-roading a whole new meaning! Certainly around this part of the country we are loosing all the solid whites lines that used to mark the edge of the road and was very useful at night. Now the central white lines are not being repainted too............... cutting back on costs?

Also interesting was that automonous cars have to be programmed differently for driving habits in different countries - so you want to take a quick day trip to Calais to top up your wine cupboard and you have to reprogram the AI to not only drive on the other side of the road but also to take into account French road manners! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

There will be loads of investors who loose their shirts on these initiatives. The whole road infrastructure needs changing to be compatible enough to be integrated with computer controlled vehicles.

The UK ain't got the money to do this so I think there will be many decades before drivers become surplus.

wilf wrote:

An autonomous car will never ever be programmed to take the "calculated risks" that we humans have to do multiple times a day to deal with the density of traffic we see all the time. What self-driving car will ever pull out half-way across a junction between queued cars when it is the only way to get out of a side street?

philmw wrote:

Interesting programme, but missed the ethics, and the huge consequences for private and corporate insurance and culpability.

Quote:

The point is that the cars will talk to each other and so will ensure traffic flow. Gridlock normally occurs because some selfish halfwit sits across the junction preventing anyone else moving or tries to take a risk and has a shunt. With all of the cars talking to each other, they will be programmed to do perfect "taking turns" etc. The result will be better traffic flow, not worse. Cars will also be able to follow each other in trains at speed because each will know what the others are doing. No brake pulses going back through traffic resulting in cars further back coming to a standstill or being rear ended.

RRSTDV8 wrote:

wilf wrote:

An autonomous car will never ever be programmed to take the "calculated risks" that we humans have to do multiple times a day to deal with the density of traffic we see all the time. What self-driving car will ever pull out half-way across a junction between queued cars when it is the only way to get out of a side street?

The point is that the cars will talk to each other and so will ensure traffic flow. Gridlock normally occurs because some selfish halfwit sits across the junction preventing anyone else moving or tries to take a risk and has a shunt. With all of the cars talking to each other, they will be programmed to do perfect "taking turns" etc. The result will be better traffic flow, not worse. Cars will also be able to follow each other in trains at speed because each will know what the others are doing. No brake pulses going back through traffic resulting in cars further back coming to a standstill or being rear ended.

Will it be perfect? Nope. Will it be better than halfwits on their phones whilst driving one handed in Lane 3 at 90mph? Hell yes.

A mix of human and auto drivers will be no worse than a mix of human drivers. Humans aren't anything special when it comes to driving - that's why even today we kill many hundreds of people a year in the UK. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

I agree that humans are cr@p drivers on the whole, so would autonomous vehicles be able to cope? They may be faced with some illogical and unexpected maneuvres!

Maybe all autonomous cars should be fitted with a "dead man" type lever/switch or a "kill" cord like small boat engines and treadmills have - let it go and the car stops. That would also get around the problem of who is the person in charge of the vehicle - so no cocktail parties for the back up driver while on a journey in autonomous mode. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

donny dog wrote:

I agree that humans are cr@p drivers on the whole, so would autonomous vehicles be able to cope? They may be faced with some illogical and unexpected maneuvres!