Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Times

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving.

The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver.

With someone behind the wheel to take control if something goes awry and a technician in the passenger seat to monitor the navigation system, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. One even drove itself down Lombard Street in San Francisco, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the nation. The only accident, engineers said, was when one Google car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html?_r=1&hp

[AngryAmish]

1. My new ride for when I go cocktailing

on edit:

This is coming and coming fast. A good job for many years has been truck driving, both over the road and local. This job is going away along with many other jobs that will be done by robots.

Kids: get a skill that can't be done by robots. These include plumbing. Doctor, lawyer - oops, many of those jobs can be done by robots faster, cheaper and better.

[Taverner]

2. Rage against the machine

In a literal sense

[Downwinder]

6. "Search & Rescue" might be in line, if the car depends on GPS.

[RKP5637]

20. Yeah, I just said something similar here... sometimes in the middle of tight

traffic, my navigator stops and says "Recalculating Route." ... or it misses the turn by a few hundred feet past when it says, for example, "Turn Left on xxx!" Oops, "Recalculating Route."

[boppers]

28. That's a cheaper GPS, or bad coverage.

The higher-end, more recent, systems are accurate to within a meter or two... I'm not sure it's entirely available to civilians, though.

[RKP5637]

33. I think it's dead spots in coverage here. It's just a regular consumer one, definitely

not higher end.

[quakerboy]

13. Um... If a car can drive with no driver

What makes you think that a computer cant learn plumbing?

What all this means is that we need to restructure our setup quite a bit. How much work is there that truly needs to be done by people? If we can accomplish everything we need to maintain society with, say, 15 hours a week from each of us, then 15 hours needs to pay a living wage. Or we can hoard the benefits of the much reduced effort needed to create or do anything to a select few and the rest can starve. Up to us, kinda.

[Duer 157099]

16. spot on, well said n/t

[Downwinder]

21. They don't get along well with liquids or dirt and dust.

[quakerboy]

25. Tell that to the mars rover

or the unmanned submersibles. And then lets talk about the fact that I can go to my local grocery store and purchase a digital camera meant to be used underwater.

The times, they are a changin.

[geomon666]

34. You do realize...

Those things have a short lifespan without maintenance right?

[quakerboy]

35. Whats that got to do with anything?

How many hours of maintenance is required as compared to how many hours of work to accomplish the tasks they can do. And who's to say that another machine cannot be formed to accomplish that maintenance.

Mechanization is here. One combine harvester with a driver can do what it used to take many people to accomplish. Same is true all over, and the abilities that we are able to manufacture into machines will only grow as time passes. We still need people to handle the hitches and oversee the system, but a 40 hour work week is outdated. Frankly, its a part of whats tearing at our society right now. You gotta work 40 if you want to eat and have a bed at night, but there ain't enough 40's to be had. And much of what there is is make work. If a car can drive itself, a floor buffer can't be taught to do the same at your local Target at 3 am each morning? You couldn't make a machine that you dump the component parts into, and end up with a hot Big Mac, hold the mayo in box at the other end?

[awoke_in_2003]

36. "then 15 hours needs to pay a living wage"...

but you know, of course, that that will NEVER happen. For many Americans, 40+ hours a week doesn't pay a living wage.

[quakerboy]

41. Which is a major problem

I am not willing to say never. I can see ways that it could come to be. I just am not sure which is the most likely to actually achieve the goal with the least amount of suffering in the mean time. Not that I have power to enact any of my ideas.

[Incitatus]

38. Unfortunately, I think the latter is a more likely outcome. nt

[quakerboy]

42. We are there now

I would say. The question is what do we do about it. Is there any way to change things to enable people to thrive?

[boppers]

26. Kids: get a job working on robots.

No matter how much we automate the world, somebody will have to fix the automation devices.

[jmowreader]

27. Truck driving will never go away until trucks can unload themselves

[Art_from_Ark]

54. Truck drivers often don't unload their own trucks

Often, that is the job of "lumpers"

[Joe Bacon]

45. Hey does it come with The Hoff?

I'll gladly get in line for a KITT, soon as I win the lotto!

[Devil_Fish]

52. How about fixing robots.....NT

[alittlelark]

3. I've seen the car on 280 - WITH a driver

I had no idea that's what it was.

[greiner3]

4. Yeah;

But when the GPS gives a wrong signal, will Google sue when their car crashes into San Fransisco bay? Through their corporate headquarter's front door? Through meg's headquarter's front door? Maybe the former might not be such a bad idea and who's to say it would not be an accident?

[zanana1]

5. It's about time.

Now where is my personal skycraft vehicle?

[shanti]

39. exactly!

that's what i want.

[proteus_lives]

7. The future is now.

[napi21]

8. This is terrific news! I doubt I'll ever see it, but I'd LOVE a car ike that!!!

So many of societys problems solved all at once! No DUI's, no speeding tickets, few traffic accidents, much better fuel mileage and the list goes on. Thank you Google!

[Exultant Democracy]

12. Spot on, smart roads and smart cars would solve or mitigate a lot of significant challenges.

The death toll alone is a good enough reason.

[shanti]

40. ah no...

the insurance companies would never go for that! :eyes:

[Turbineguy]

9. They need this in

Florida.

Just to be safe put the passengers in the trunk.

[thelordofhell]

10. Say hello to your new bus driver

:argh:

[OnlinePoker]

57. Not necessarily

I don't own one, but do GPS systems come with bridge height measurements? That was what caused the crash in New York last month. The driver missed a turn and was looking at his GPS for a route instead of at the clearly marked height restrictions for the bridge he was approaching. I also don't like the idea of 100 million radar units blasting away as they drive down the road. There are some people who are hyper-sensitive to radio emissions and their life could be turned into a living hell by something like this.

[independent_voter]

11. i heard someone filled up one of those cars with straight ethanol

and the car got a DUI

[backscatter712]

14. This can save lives!

Imagine if in the future, this sort of technology was polished up to the point where a person could go on a bender at the bar, come out completely sloshed, get in his car, and have the car's computer drive him home, perfectly safely - after all, computers don't get drunk.

I imagine that we will reach the point where computer driving is safer than human drivers - computers don't get tired, they don't get drunk, they don't get distracted by babbling on cell phones. Just get in your car, set the destination on the map screen, and go read a magazine.

[1monster]

32. Computers may not get drunk, but they do get viruses and computers

react far differently with a virus than people do...

[RKP5637]

15. Why do we need people anymore, I wonder... n/t

[woo me with science]

17. Because google already knows what you are thinking and where you want to go... nt

[Canuckistanian]

18. Uh, no.

Was this approved by the NTSB? The California Motor Vehicle Department? Were law officials notified beforehand?

I'm not against the project, but a "live demonstration" in real-world traffic is something else.

The "observer" in the car still had to apply the brakes for a cyclist running a red light and when a car started backing up in front of the demonstration vehicle.

Sorry, back to drawing board, people, before you're allowed back in the REAL WORLD, where people can be injured or hurt.

[snooper2]

49. I gave the okay for it, so you don't have to worry..

:)

[LanternWaste]

50. What leads you to believe the appropriate legal..

What leads you to believe the appropriate legal and civic authorities were not notified?

As this is still in prototype testing, I imagine it's still technically "on the drawing board..."
Hard to go back, when you're still there.

[woo me with science]

19. But let's play the Big Brother game, too. It's just too irresistible.

Ultimately, those who control this system may be able to redirect you to where they decide.

Late on your tax payment or fine? Sit helplessly as the doors autolock and your car merges into the line to the IRS or city government parking lot.

Heading for a night out, or to buy soda and chips (especially if you receive government assistance)? Your car may turn around on its own accord.

Late for work, or your wife is having a baby in the adjacent seat? Don't even THINK about speeding up.

No more fun for kids borrowing the car on Friday night. Or for you when you feel like finding a mountain road and letting go a little bit.

Lots of dark and entertaining possibilities await on the day when use of this device is no longer optional.

Cue the futuristic music...:scared:

[Politicalboi]

22. Your right about that

It sounds good at first, but it's more control over us. I figured that we would have chips in our cars that will tell on us when we break the law. When you register your car, they check your chip for violations. Or be able to track your own vehicle on your home computer. This system would break the police dept. There's so much technology coming, and there's so much money to be made by ticketing citizens. Red light camera tickets are a gold mine. I wouldn't bet on this getting here anytime soon.

[LanternWaste]

51. I heard the same things about the internet.

I heard the same things about the internet. And television. And the movable typeset press...

[lunatica]

23. If they can drive themselves on Highway 1 they can drive anywhere!

[ClarkUSA]

24. Sci-fi aficionados, Trekkies in particular, are not at all surprised.

;)

[tclambert]

29. Sure, no problem wtih thsi idae. Comptrs nvr mk mistaxxxxxxxx

[tclambert]

31. Sorry, having a few problems with my computer.

Could be one of those Chinese viruses, or maybe just a plain old programming bug. Nothing serious. And I'm sure that could never happen to a car's computer. Perfectly safe. No blue screen of death, followed by literal death in a fiery crash. Almost guaranteed. Go ahead, trust the programmers at Google with your life.

[Fumesucker]

37. The Space Shuttle uses triply redundant computers..

And a lot of that is 1970s technology..

[woo me with science]

43. That was an online joke for a long time:

http://www.blogarithms.com/index.php/archives/2005/01/07/if-cars-worked-like-windows/

What if your car worked like a Windows computer?

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times! as fast and twice as easy to drive – but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single “This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation” warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask “Are you sure?” before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.

[IDemo]

44. Google system in a Toyota:

"Did you mean - SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!!?"

[MrScorpio]

30. There was something like this in MINORITY REPORT

Life imitating art

[Sancho]

46. This would cause problems in Florida...

no one drives the speed limit, and the one reported accident in the article was someone who rear ended the test car. Of course, if you're going to stop at yellow lights you'll cause all sorts of mayhem..

[Nihil]

48. So maybe they should teach Floridans how to drive properly (and legally) ...

... rather than whinging about a safe driver "causing problems"?

(And yes, the "Floridans" was only in direct response to your post - the same
applies to every state where safe, legal operations are blamed for "causing"
the crashes instead of recognising the fault of the bad drivers themselves.)

[Sancho]

55. Apparently you didn't get the sarcasm...

Personally, I'd put a governor on all vehicles so that they could not go faster than 55 (ever), set serious weight/hp limits per class of vehicle, and require solar cars! Of course I voted for Carter (and introduced him at a campaign rally on my college campus) partly because of his stand on the environment and promoting a safer national 55 mph speed limit! Hmmm...that was 35 years ago!

What good are teaching legal limits that are unsafe and ignored; not to mention ecological disasters?!?!

I'll be glad to whine!

[Nihil]

56. Apparently not.

My apologies - I took your comment too seriously!

:blush:

[Mefistofeles]

47. Sounds dangerous

Google Translate, for example, can afford to make an error here and there. Not a car.

[Devil_Fish]

53. I would have to agree with most of the people here that it is unsafe.

The person in the vehicle had to break twice, once for a bicycle that ran a red light, and once for some one backing up. You know as well as I do that any one who has this car is going to surf the web, and not be paying attention to the road in front of them. The biker who ran the read would be dead, and the person backing up would have gotten rear ended.

140,000 miles and only 1,000 with out human intervention? The only way it could work is if every one had one, and now one was allowed to drive with out it. Humans are just too un-predictable.

To take the other side, a biker who runs a red maybe should be run over by a computer car, and I hate it when idiots run a red and then back up.