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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3097 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How fixed-gear bikes can confuse Google’s self-driving cars

Or they'll figure out how to make driving in the snow reliable enough to do it. Sticking RFID chips in those highway reflector things would go a long way, and after a few years of autonomous vehicles being widely deployed and not getting in accidents I'm willing to bet the DoT is agreeable.





artis  ·  3097 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Realistically I expect we'll see not a switch to autonomous cars but a continuoum of cars taking over the most difficult jobs as tech matures.

ABS, cruise control, traction control, electronic stabilization, intelligent transmissions, brake assist, collision avoidance, collision breaking and countless other systems will ensure that by the time autonomous cars are ready to take over we will be driving cars with arcade controls preventing us from being stupid.

kleinbl00  ·  3097 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh, it'll happen. But I'm willing to bet snow and rain are a few years past regular fair-weather driving. I don't really see how fog, snow and rain aren't going to severely curtail the effectiveness of LIDAR.

someguyfromcanada  ·  3097 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yep. That Fed guy was thinking about today and not tomorrow. Notice how he was writing with a pen and paper. (I hate to admit it but I am pretty terrible at that nowadays.)

That is why Google is currently road testing cars without steering wheels or peddles or drivers. If these cars are relying on humans not to mess up they will not be successful or approved. And when they do figure out ice, snow, rain, etc. imagine how much easier it will be for even a native let alone a tourist from Arizona to "drive" to Whistler. Ice and snow is a real bitch. Especially at night.

user-inactivated  ·  3097 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yes, they're not going to be able to rely only on LIDAR. I doubt anyone at google or elsewhere really expects to be able to.