Author Topic: Autonomous vehicles.  (Read 53627 times)

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #105 on: July 13, 2018, 09:20:56 PM »
Baidu, in China, has announced it has started mass production of self driving buses. These buses will be Level 4, which means they will be programmed for particular routes. As the blurb says, "last-mile" drop-offs within enclosed areas, such as airports and tourist sites.
As an ex-bus driver I often felt I was on autopilot, after a 10 hour shift driving the same urban route!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44713298

Most car factories had AV delivery vehicles running around the factory in the early 1980's - they followed a wire buried in the floor.  They were able to stop at fixed points or when requested, were reliable, never went off track and quiet,  maybe we need to bury wires in public roads for AV buses to follow.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

richardfrost

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1408
  • Country: england
  • My Honda: Black 2005 1.4 SE RIP
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #106 on: July 17, 2018, 12:34:38 PM »
We can always rely on the BBC to come up with a new story on this...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-44824459/the-self-driving-car-that-s-50-years-old

Despite the message, you can clearly see the 'driver' grab the wheel to avoid a hay bale! Still, they knocked this up in 6 weeks which is good going.

Jocko

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #107 on: July 17, 2018, 01:17:12 PM »
I saw the video from Goodwood Festival Of Speed and their autonomous Mustang was a bit tongue in cheek. It reminded me of Blue Peter's, Tracy Island. Or something from Scrapheap Challenge or Red Bull Soapbox Race.

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #108 on: July 17, 2018, 02:01:48 PM »
We can always rely on the BBC to come up with a new story on this...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-44824459/the-self-driving-car-that-s-50-years-old

Despite the message, you can clearly see the 'driver' grab the wheel to avoid a hay bale! Still, they knocked this up in 6 weeks which is good going.

I have noticed a concerted effort on BBC to introduce mentions of EV into pretty much everything they can,  just pushing government policy - the BBC independent ? don't make me laff  >:(

Seems like Tesla cars having same problem as Samsung phones a few years ago,  spontaneous combustion.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44511200   (and yes I am quoting a BBC source LOL)
« Last Edit: July 17, 2018, 02:05:48 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #109 on: July 17, 2018, 05:12:12 PM »
Information from https://www.fireservice.co.uk/

Every year in the UK, over 100,000 cars which equates to nearly 300 a day go up in flames and around 100 people die as a result. Around 65% of these fires are started deliberately to cover criminal activity, to make a fraudulent insurance claim or as an act of vandalism.

So that means 35,000 cars catch fire, in the UK, of their own accord.

That Tesla, which I had noted last month, happened to have been driven by a British TV director, and got a mention.
If it had been a Ford Focus, driven by a builder it would have been lucky to have got a mention in the local rag.

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #110 on: July 17, 2018, 05:35:35 PM »
Information from https://www.fireservice.co.uk/

Every year in the UK, over 100,000 cars which equates to nearly 300 a day go up in flames and around 100 people die as a result. Around 65% of these fires are started deliberately to cover criminal activity, to make a fraudulent insurance claim or as an act of vandalism.

So that means 35,000 cars catch fire, in the UK, of their own accord.

That Tesla, which I had noted last month, happened to have been driven by a British TV director, and got a mention.
If it had been a Ford Focus, driven by a builder it would have been lucky to have got a mention in the local rag.

Yeah but not many Teslas on the roads in UK,  another more useful stat would be the number of ICE compared with EV per 1000 on the road that catch fire.  A major cause of vehicle fires is bad maintenance (leaking fuel and oil) - and older vehicles more likely than newer ones to suffer,  the oldest Tesla is not really that old yet and they tend to be owned by rich people who get them looked at regularly.  So maybe this is a ticking clock as EV get older and don't get maintained.  The toxic fumes emitted by Li-Ion batteries also mean that fumes from EV batteries can easily kill (that s why it is mandatory for emergency services attending EV fires to wear breathing equipment even in open air - so terrorists park an EV in a crowded place and set fire to it LOL
« Last Edit: July 17, 2018, 06:05:10 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #111 on: July 17, 2018, 06:03:46 PM »
Interesting video and some interesting comments.


culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #112 on: July 22, 2018, 06:14:33 PM »
So silicon valleys cover is now well and truly blown, they say they are 'enablers' to free people from big business La La La. Turns out they are a bigger bunch of crooks than all the other businesses combined,  their motive is pure profit, they do not pay taxes in any country, and they expect countries taxpayers to subsidize their low payed employees via tax credits and other payments ( Amazon, Uber, etc  say they are self employed and have no rights as employees).  Uber sets up in countries, destroys normal taxi driver trade, encourages taxi drivers to borrow money on the promise of big paybacks but the truth is because Uber do not protect their employees (yes they are employees) they sign up far too many taxi drivers who then see their earnings fall down a hole and when the drivers protest they are told 'please yourself, it is either Uber way or the highway' and we have plenty of other drivers if you don't want to,  some people are committing suicide because they are in debt and have no way to make decent money.

Silicon Valley is putting people out of jobs all over the world, by 2030 probably half the people on the planet will not have a job because their tech is replacing people - then the social problems will really start,  and its companies are as predatory in its pursuit of profit as any other global business.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #113 on: July 22, 2018, 06:51:21 PM »
Not quite Autonomous vehicle specific but I get your point.

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #114 on: July 22, 2018, 07:24:18 PM »
Not quite Autonomous vehicle specific but I get your point.

Turns out Uber is one of silicon valleys worst, so it is relevant to AV, they will behave just as badly with their autonomous taxis.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #115 on: August 28, 2018, 04:10:36 PM »
I see that Toyota is investing half a Billion dollars in Uber and expanding a partnership to jointly develop self-driving cars. Mind you, Uber is supposedly spending $1m - $2m per day on autonomous vehicle technology.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45324753

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #116 on: September 15, 2018, 04:26:24 PM »
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3262112/artificial-intelligence/why-autonomous-cars-won-t-be-autonomous.html

An interesting article an AI and its usefulness ( or not ) in relation to autonomous vehicles.

It seems to have gone very quiet on AV last six to twelve months, I think it is finally sinking in how hard it is gonna be to replace humans...
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #117 on: October 04, 2018, 07:21:53 AM »
I read this morning that Honda are investing $2.75 billion to take a stake in General Motors self-driving unit, GM Cruise.

Honda to invest $2.8bn in GM's self-driving car unit

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #118 on: October 15, 2018, 07:59:44 PM »
This is the problem with AI and automating cars..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravec%27s_paradox

The 'hard' things like playing chess are easy to program as they rely on well regulated rules, the 'easy' things like recognising a chair from different angles ( that any five year old can do ) are the most difficult.

Also this.  https://phys.org/news/2015-10-cars-fully-driverless-historian.html
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Autonomous vehicles.
« Reply #119 on: October 22, 2018, 07:54:29 AM »
According to the BBC, Addison Lee, the premium private hire and courier service, are planning on self driving taxis, in London, by 2021. Chancellor Philip Hammond said last year he wanted to have "fully driverless cars" without a safety attendant on board in use by 2021, so this is in line with that hope.

BBC Business report of Addison Lee's announcement

Tags:
 

anything
Back to top