Posted on 02/26/2020 10:40:34 AM PST by RomanSoldier19
Bad weather can render the cameras and lidar on self-driving cars useless. Researchers at MIT suggest ground-penetrating radar as the fix.
(Excerpt) Read more at caranddriver.com ...
The problem with automated vehicles is that they are MORE expensive, aren't any faster than a regular car, and may ultimately achieve their safety improvements by operating slower than a conventional motor vehicle.
I've been saying for years that automated vehicles are a solution looking for a problem ... and I work professionally in an industry where I have to deal with this all the time.
I have a solution that would work even better: Don't let vehicles operate faster than 25 mph.
Don't laugh. That's likely to be one of the ways automated vehicles achieve their safety improvements.
There’s a lot of money and people being invested in the development of the technology. Maybe they see benefits you don’t.
C7 Z06. 650 hp. 3560 lb. fun to drive
NICE!!!!!!!!
NOT fun to buy tires for. Also Doing my bit to keep the gas companies in business :-)
lol
Actually the answer has been in front of people all along but has really never been brought up. The answer to the automated car is to place sensors in the road in which the AI computer reads. However, the technology for smart roads is much further down the road and is too expensive to accomplish at this time. These sensors could relay information to and from the car. We already have the sensor technology available to us. We do not have the ability to maintain the current roads that we have now. Adding sensor technology in or on the road would mean a drastic overhaul of the current infrastructure. AI in cars would go so much further if every car and every road had this. It was passed up because of the cost. Now we measure the cost of AI in cars in the cost of lives. Sensors in the road could relay things like speed limits, light signals, distance to the next car, and staying in the lane to switching lanes from the one the car is in. However, one other thing that is of an issue that must be contended with is GPS issues from satellites needs to be much further in technology and software. Right now GPS has a much further road to travel to be more accurate.
BTW cars already have sonar, sort of, in the form of collision detection.
700 HP and rear wheel drive is why last year during the snowstorms the most cars that were in the ditch were all challengers and mustangs. Sometimes humans are worse drivers than computers!
I couldn’t get down the block in an ice drizzle.
They’d better also add pot hole detection too....
Fine, I’ll try to not laugh.
Obviously that’s not a viable solution, because we’ve had decades to implement it - and haven’t.
GA freeway normal speed is 80 MPH ... even where posted 55.
What makes me think automated vehicles is _a_ solution: informed predictions are a 10x reduction in fatalities per mile per vehicle. Even a fraction of that would save lives over what we accept now. It’s likely to actually be used (unlike a 25 MPH limit) because it’s at-speed (at least keep up with normal traffic), convenient (push button), comfortable (no micro-adjustment focus needed), and cool (hey, it’s a self-driving car).
Yes, I’ve studied the issue, and been following it for decades.
Magnets embedded in the road surface and magnetic sensors on the vehicles would be a more simple solution.
Magnets.
Back in 2010, we bought a 2006 Sentra with a 5-speed, and it took weeks to find anything with a manual transmission. That little car now has almost 150,000 miles, and is showing its age. We need to start looking for a replacement soon, since we both still want a stick.
I’ve seen far more 4x4s in ditches than RWD, as the former think they can drive through any weather, while the latter are more careful, if even out in the snow.
If they could energize that cable to run your car while driving, and then go to battery, until you get back to the cable, now that would be interesting......
I stick to my truck
I think only some small econocars, performance models, and heavy duty pickups have the manual transmission available now. Most of the models don’t even have a manual option.
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