Ming the Mechanic:
Self-driving cars

The NewsLog of Flemming Funch
 Self-driving cars2004-11-19 18:00
3 comments
picture by Flemming Funch

EETimes:
It's shortly before dawn, and the handful of early-morning commuters on the fog-shrouded suburban highway don't see the deer meandering across the road. Luckily, though, their cars see the animal. In an instant, the closest vehicle quickly applies its brakes and turns its wheels, steering around an otherwise imminent collision. It then sends warning messages to oncoming traffic, as well as to the vehicles behind it, which dutifully apply their brakes and slow to a near-crawl as the deer passes.

None of the drivers, however, is disturbed by the near miss. A few are too engaged in their morning newspapers; a couple more are snoozing for a few more minutes before arriving at the office. All are blissfully unaware of the incident because they, the "drivers," aren't driving; they're being chauffeured by their self-navigating vehicles.

Sound impossible? Many automotive experts don't think so. The technological pieces needed for a self-navigating vehicle are already falling into place, they say. But it will take at least two to three decades before those pieces will be assembled into a car that drives itself.

Two to three decades? That's what they said too when I was a kid, you know, more than three decades ago. The biggest problem seems to be that we still don't know how to make good AI. And then there's a matter of having good enough sensors.


[< Back] [Ming the Mechanic]

Category:  

3 comments

20 Nov 2004 @ 07:39 by Ge Zi @24.127.146.67 : so yesterday
hmmm, I thought we had that already for a long time.

I for my part have depended on that feature for a long time - not that I would need that any more these days, but during the wild student times - when I was really drunk and had to get home. I was always sure that my car knows the way home. hmmmm .....  



31 Jan 2006 @ 16:30 by jojo @67.132.117.2 : why
I wonder if self driving cars will go thru congress  


24 Nov 2006 @ 04:17 by ocean @71.120.226.126 : ICONOCLAST- 2
Please contact me for unique ideas in automotive technowlogy. Thank you for making a difference.  


Other stories in
2007-12-26 21:19: LeWeb3
2007-07-04 23:14: Orbo free energy
2007-06-28 22:03: Wide-angle Immersive Stereoscope
2007-06-24 16:51: Spy box
2007-06-14 01:00: Photosynth
2007-04-25 14:01: Open source hardware
2007-03-22 16:33: The Air Car
2007-03-09 23:44: Web 2.0
2007-02-07 16:09: Talkr
2007-01-12 00:15: Open Source Desktop Fabricator



[< Back] [Ming the Mechanic] [PermaLink]? 


Link to this article as: http://ming.tv/flemming2.php/__show_article/_a000010-001423.htm
Main Page: ming.tv