Uber "Self-Driving" in Pittsburgh

[bradly1101]

Unlike the Tesla, this Uber "self-driving" car looks properly engineered to take on the crazy roads we drive on, bristling with cameras and senors with the added benefit of having all roads traveled pre-mapped in memory:

I still put "self-driving" in quotes because we have yet to see no one in the driver's seat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/t...es-for-a-spin-in-a-self-driving-uber-car.html

 

[Torn Mind]

Until D.C is conquered, I consider self-driving vehicles to be too immature for actual deployment. Cars can't read pieces of paper indicating sudden no parking zones in areas that usually allow parking, be it for special events or work zones.

 

[bradly1101]

Until D.C is conquered, I consider self-driving vehicles to be too immature for actual deployment. Cars can't read pieces of paper indicating sudden no parking zones in areas that usually allow parking, be it for special events or work zones.

Yeah, it seems like there would need to be a different kind of road and all sorts of new rules to accommodate this technology

 

[sontakke]

surely, nobody is putting up the "no parking " paper there without having some electronic trail prior to that. nothing stops from the car receiving that restriction over the air if the powers to be want that to happen.
It is not a technical problem.

On the other hand, if you were talking about the current ability of the driverless car, forget DC; I want it to drive in Mumbai and Bangalore first before I would trust it with my life

 

[bradly1101]

surely, nobody is putting up the "no parking " paper there without having some electronic trail prior to that. nothing stops from the car receiving that restriction over the air if the powers to be want that to happen.
It is not a technical problem.

On the other hand, if you were talking about the current ability of the driverless car, forget DC; I want it to drive in Mumbai and Bangalore first before I would trust it with my life

Only if all the cars were driverless in those places order would come from chaos. Otherwise I don't think driverless would work in there.

 

[Torn Mind]

surely, nobody is putting up the "no parking " paper there without having some electronic trail prior to that. nothing stops from the car receiving that restriction over the air if the powers to be want that to happen.
It is not a technical problem.

On the other hand, if you were talking about the current ability of the driverless car, forget DC; I want it to drive in Mumbai and Bangalore first before I would trust it with my life

OTA means hackable and must be guarded as if a life is a stake.


The database should not be a mere GPS that uses solely math approximations. It must also be connected to the property tax database to make sure addresses that truly do not exist are not legitimate destinations, especially if the vehicle is for delivering goods. Driverless cars are not ready until they are delivery job ready.

The amount of commands to truly give the driverless experience the same amount of customization as not as simple as just satisfying the more basic needs of 9-to-5ers.

 

[sontakke]

The following happened in 13 years:- (now think of the pace of technological evolution in 20th vs 21st century)

to

 

[ElFenix]

Until D.C is conquered, I consider self-driving vehicles to be too immature for actual deployment. Cars can't read pieces of paper indicating sudden no parking zones in areas that usually allow parking, be it for special events or work zones.

Why would the uber robot car need to park? On to the next passenger!

 

[Torn Mind]

Why would the uber robot car need to park? On to the next passenger!

Uber is a ferrying service. But if it's for any guy commuting to work or driving for work, a robot car, which the machine-trusting engineers seek to sever the tie of a operator completely and let the machine take care of everything, a near perfect experience should be demanded.
Safe dropoff of passengers onto a sidewalk in a dense urban area with no room whatsoever? Robot cars damn better parallel park well.

Plus, they need to park in the lot that stores them.

 

[kranky]

They've mentioned on the local news that the Uber testing has uncovered a couple of issues to deal with. One was coming up behind a disabled car, and the human overseer had to take control and go around it. Another issue is bridges (we got 'em) where there are few "environmental clues" for the car to figure out exactly where it is. I guess it relies more on the video mapping to determine location instead of just GPS.

 

[Griffinhart]

They've mentioned on the local news that the Uber testing has uncovered a couple of issues to deal with. One was coming up behind a disabled car, and the human overseer had to take control and go around it. Another issue is bridges (we got 'em) where there are few "environmental clues" for the car to figure out exactly where it is. I guess it relies more on the video mapping to determine location instead of just GPS.

I haven't been to that city in years so I don't remember if there are any tunnels. I know here in Boston just relying on GPS would be useless. The artery tunnel has many complex exits under ground. I would expect this spot in particular would pose a serious challenge. Especially in heavy traffic where cameras and GPS wouldn't be very reliable. I understand that GPS can be problematic in big cities like NYC where tall buildings can cause intermittent signal loss.

I can't wait to see results for winter driving. Pittsburg is at least a suitable city to test it. I think Ford is about to test in the Detroit area. I am expecting a pretty big wake up call to the developers. Given the problems Autonomous cars have had with some obstacles It should be interesting to see how they react to snow banks covering part of the street, how they manage to navigate side streets that essentially become one lane roads, the loss of visibility due to road salt and the lower visibility to cross traffic at intersections due to snow banks blocking the view. How it will handle traction control issues is a question I have as well. There are many times that it needs to get turned off. It's great for the rain, but often terrible for the snow and ice.

 

[kranky]

Yes, we have tunnels but unlike Boston once you go in, there's nowhere else to go but out the other end. Good point about the narrow residential side streets - we have plenty that are two-way but there is only enough space for cars to drive past each other if there are no cars parked along the curb. If someone is coming towards you, one driver will have to swing over towards the curb where there is no car parked in order for the other to get by.