# Self-driven cars



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Would a self-driven car scare you? To me, in the beginning, it might be kind of interesting, but, you will have to look at all of the scenerios ..

What am I talking about?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/255204/googles_self_driving_car_licensed_to_hit_nevada_streets.html



> Google's self-driving car is growing up right in front of our eyes: The fledgling autonomous vehicle program recently passed its driver's license test in Nevada, the first license of its kind in the United States. Obtaining Nevada's self-driving car license clears the way for Google to test its technology on public roads in the state.
> 
> Google's modified Toyota Prius was given the thumbs up after successful test drives in Carson City and on the Las Vegas strip. Alongside the special license, Nevada also issued the car a unique set of red license plates that include the infinity symbol and the words "autonomous car." With any luck, those plates should differentiate all the other vehicles on the road from Google's car, which has cameras and radar equipment strapped to the roof.
> 
> ...


For those of us over 35 who have been driving for over half our lives, texting and Facebook take away our time from driving. For the kids who are under 20 and have been chauffered by their parents their whole life, sitting in the back-seat while texting their friends, driving gets in the way of their social-life. In a way, I can see those 18 year-olds "needing" a self-driven car within 10 years - if they don't get that kind of technology fast enough, they will not have a drivers-licence at all due to the massive amounts of accidents ...

Don't even get me started on the government banning people who want to drive themselves within 15 years and banning motorcycles from the roads because they are too dangerous.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

No way in hell am I going to let a computer drive me. I do think that there should be a chip or something that when you are inside the car the texting and web browsing is disabled.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

Count me as someone looking forward to self-driving cars. No matter traffic jams and a greatly reduced amount of red lights will definitely reduce my time in traffic.


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## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

I dont like it, not one bit. But I will have to say there will be no question in an accident as to fault, they are covered in cameras, and Google has extremely deep pockets if something goes horribly wrong. I wonder how it will react to bad conditions? I guess it cant be any worse than your average idiot on the road.



NaeKid said:


> Don't even get me started on the government banning people who want to drive themselves within 15 years and banning motorcycles from the roads because they are too dangerous.


Oh boy! I cant imagine that happening in our lifetime.


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

Not something I would like. Heck, I never even used cruise control when I had it.


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

barely got my son into a driver training program before he turned 16, educational cuts took the program out of most public schools in CA, which i think would will be bad for most people. gonna put lots a drivers on the street with not even a weak drivers training class


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

I enjoy driving. I wouldnt want something to drive for me all the time. That being said, having a car that could drive me home from a bar dui free when I chose would be nice. Although I can see that costing me some dough


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

Think about your city driving experience. Imagine not ever having to come to a full stop for a red light and then accelerate upon a green only to have to come to a full stop again at a red light and so on. Now imagine a continuous period for forward motion, meaning no full stops and to sweeten this cake, no periods of sitting and waiting at a red light for cross traffic to clear an intersection, so that your journey from Point A to Point B is one of uninterrupted forward motion. How much more time this gives you to post here on Prepared Society. Wouldn't all of our lives be fuller and richer of meaning if we all had more time to post and read here? What am I saying? Think of the glory of being able to read and participate on this board as your car is driving you to your destination. What's not to like?


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> I enjoy driving. I wouldnt want something to drive for me all the time. That being said, having a car that could drive me home from a bar dui free when I chose would be nice. Although I can see that costing me some dough


They have those, it is called a taxi!


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Bobbb said:


> Think about your city driving experience. Imagine not ever having to come to a full stop for a red light and then accelerate upon a green only to have to come to a full stop again at a red light and so on. Now imagine a continuous period for forward motion, meaning no full stops and to sweeten this cake, no periods of sitting and waiting at a red light for cross traffic to clear an intersection, so that your journey from Point A to Point B is one of uninterrupted forward motion. How much more time this gives you to post here on Prepared Society. Wouldn't all of our lives be fuller and richer of meaning if we all had more time to post and read here? What am I saying? Think of the glory of being able to read and participate on this board as your car is driving you to your destination. What's not to like?


Think of hackers getting into the system and causing havoc? Think of the government knowing down to the foot where you are at all times? Think of your loss of freedom. Being able to post here more will not make my life better, neither will a car that drives itself.


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## Moby76065 (Jul 31, 2012)

We call it a horse.
Get drunk, get on, and he knows the way home.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

cnsper said:


> Think of hackers getting into the system and causing havoc? Think of the government knowing down to the foot where you are at all times? Think of your loss of freedom. Being able to post here more will not make my life better, neither will a car that drives itself.


Everything that is computerized does not mean that everything is networked. Everything that has localized network capabilities does not mean that the network is open to the internet. Self-driving controls does not imply centralized control of the system. Autonomous cars can communicate with cars in near vicinity and coordinate decisions. So a hacker intent on causing havoc under this scenario has to be on scene to intercept communication however if the data being hijacked and replaced is able to be verified by on-board instruments then the hacker's misinformation can be seen as different than what on-board radar is showing as the velocity of the other car in the dialog. Secondly a hacker that is on scene and sending out false signals can be defeated by doing a doppler check on the radio frequency. Cars are moving at a certain speed so the signals will reflect a minute doppler shift whereas a hacker in his apartment overlooking a street or on the street corner will be stationary and thus his signals will lack the appropriate doppler shift for that region of streets.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

No matter if they are networked or not, there has to be a centralized navigation system. No thanks.


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## Marcus (May 13, 2012)

The thing that worries me the most about this are the female computers.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Taxi's are expensive and not rural enough for horses. I dont have more than 2 away from home witout a dd. Second thought, maybe it should stay that way. Screw the self drivin car.


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## Startingout-Blair (Aug 28, 2012)

Moby76065 said:


> We call it a horse.
> Get drunk, get on, and he knows the way home.


I understand that a couple of years ago, a man riding a horse was arrested for DUI. I don't get it. It's not like the horse would run into a tree...lol


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## Startingout-Blair (Aug 28, 2012)

If everyone gets used to a self driven car, then when power goes out, very few will know how to drive themselves...of course that may be a good thing


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

What I want to know is WHY IN THE WORLD isn't Google working on a self driving law mower, leaf vacuum, snow blower, etc. I can drive myself to work but someday I won't have any kids at home to mow the lawn, rake the leaves, shovel, etc. Then what I am supposed to do Google! Then what am I supposed to do! And what about a robot that can put on my socks and scratch my butt. I need to be less involved in my own life and have more robotics to take care of me. We all know that Terminator is just a movie. Right?


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## Marcus (May 13, 2012)

Sentry, 
There are robotic mowers but they're very expensive.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Do they pick up toys, trim around the edges, bag the grass and set it out on the curb? I don't think so Google!


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Computer driven cars are a crazy idea. Given how any program can be buggy there would absolutely be accidents due to computer error. Or you'd find out that your car refuses to make left turns from Lombardi Avenue to Mason St in Green Bay. Think about the crazy directions you get just from your GPS. You can only imagine what your car would do.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Sentry18 said:


> Do they pick up toys, trim around the edges, bag the grass and set it out on the curb? I don't think so Google!


Well - no, but, the dogs like to play with them ..






:cheers:


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## Trip286 (Oct 18, 2012)

I think a self driven car would be cool on long road trips. But then again, that's what an A-driver or greyhound is for.


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## oif_ghost_tod (Sep 25, 2012)

I was driving down to the VA hospital on the Interstate when I came upon a 'convoy' of 5 silver ford taurus's, all with passengers, but no drivers. It clearly was a test of some sort, but it was pretty freaky to see them whizzing down the road about 5' apart in perfect alignment.
Not sure exactly what to think of this technology, but then again people scoffed at the thought of automobiles and cell phones when they first came out, and now I'm writing this post on my cell phone while driving down the interst....

*Screeeee
(Metal crushing)


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> Well - no, but, the dogs like to play with them ..


I have 3 rotties, they would eat that thing and be crapping out plastic for weeks!


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## Redtail (Oct 17, 2008)

I regularly ride a motorcycle. If a stop light can't detect me, I put little faith in a Prius programmed by Google being able to do it.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Bobbb said:


> Think about your city driving experience. Imagine not ever having to come to a full stop for a red light and then accelerate upon a green only to have to come to a full stop again at a red light and so on. Now imagine a continuous period for forward motion, meaning no full stops and to sweeten this cake, no periods of sitting and waiting at a red light for cross traffic to clear an intersection, so that your journey from Point A to Point B is one of uninterrupted forward motion. How much more time this gives you to post here on Prepared Society. Wouldn't all of our lives be fuller and richer of meaning if we all had more time to post and read here? What am I saying? Think of the glory of being able to read and participate on this board as your car is driving you to your destination. What's not to like?


I don't really understand how the forward motion will be continuous, are the car just going to travel a set speed ,with predeternined gaps for cross traffic?.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

Tirediron said:


> I don't really understand how the forward motion will be continuous, are the car just going to travel a set speed ,with predeternined gaps for cross traffic?.


Think about how you walk in a crowded situation especially when you have to cross a stream of people walking towards you at a 90 degree angle. What happens is that you and the person who is coming at you adjust your speed so that you cross paths without colliding. This same principle applies here. There will be interweaving of two streams of traffic. This can't work when unpredictable humans are in control, but when a computer is talking to another computer and when each vehicle knows the distance away and the velocity of the other vehicle the coordination of both vehicles can create a motion path which results in the two vehicles adjusting their speeds so that they go through an intersection without colliding.

Getting rid of the full stop at red lights will do so much good in terms of increasing the efficiency of city travel.

If you think this is a fantasy, keep in mind that NASA can send out a probe and hit a target with the volume of a small house from hundreds of millions of miles away.

Check out this video simulation. Prepare for a heart attack.

http://vimeo.com/37751380


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Ok that is spooky, but it looks like it would work, but not with human emotions involved. the only problem would be if a mechanical component hickupped and then the wreck would be horrendous.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

Tirediron said:


> Ok that is spooky, but it looks like it would work, but not with human emotions involved. the only problem would be if a mechanical component hickupped and then the wreck would be horrendous.


Didn't WWII era prop-driven warplanes synchronize the machine gun fire with the rotation of the prop so that the pilots could fire THROUGH the props without shredding them to sawdust with the bullets and crashing?

The synchronization issue is pretty mundane so long as there is good communication between the parts of the system and that synchronization doesn't have to be internet centralized and prone to hackers, it can be decentralized and guided by RULES on board every car's computer so that they all speak the same language, much like all of our browsers are speaking in HTML and Flash and so on.

As for the emergence of mechanical failure gumming up the works, I would think that a computer system would be able to handle a work around more efficiently than a driver reacts to a similar situation. It's not like the cars would be launched into the intersection after a critical calculation is made about the path that they have to take, rather the car will be reacting to real-time information, so if a car in the intersection breaks down it would either signal the particulars of the break down or the absence of signal could be like a dead-man's switch which notifies all adjacent cars to independently assess via on-board motion detectors and radar what happened to the broken car, communicate that data to all approaching traffic and adjust driving behavior accordingly so as to avoid the obstacle.


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## Redtail (Oct 17, 2008)

Yeeeah, still not digging it. If you don't trust a state-run system to protect you in the very rare event of a burglary or mugging, why trust the state to handle your life every single day when you get into your car?
How about handling your income and your children's nutrition?
Medicine?

I love machines. I would get a cerebrospinal implant to connect my brain directly to my car or bike long before letting a computer take direct control of her for me, though. Give me better control, not less. My philosophy is that computers are our companions, not our masters. A computer can only do what it's told and exactly to the letter. Think of the sheer amount of parallel computing that would have to be done, and what level of synchronization you'd have to have, to send telemetric information between a dozen cars in just one intersection if just one of them had a problem. 

No, sir, I don't like it. I'll stick to my 75mpg cafe bike and take responsibility for my own driving ande the enjoyment of the trip.


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