Posted on 06/01/2015 1:42:19 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Google’s self-driving cars will hit the roads by summer 2015 On May 21, 2015, Nvidia (NVDA) started shipping Drive PX, its hardware and software development kit, to leading luxury car manufacturers including Bentley, Aston Martin, Tesla (TSLA), and Rolls-Royce.
Google (GOOG), which has been in this space for the last six years, will be putting its self-driving cars on public roads by as early as summer 2015. Tech giants report that Google, with a fleet of almost 20 self-driving cars, now averages ~10,000 self-driving miles per week. Google claims that its cars have 75 years of US adult driving experience if its test-run miles are taken into account.
North America is expected to lead self-driving cars sales According to the IHS study, North America will account for 29% of global sales of SDCs (self-driving cars) in 2035. This would include level-4 SDCs, which also permit human control, and level-5 SDCs, self-driving-only cars. North America is supposed to be followed by China (FXI) with 24% share of sales, or over 2.8 million units. Western Europe is projected to account for 20% of sales, or 2.4 million vehicles.
Google reveals its accident statistics
Sometime ago, Google revealed its accident data to prove that its self-driving cars are safe on the road. The company stated that its cars had been involved in 11 “minor” accidents, with no injuries, during its six years in the space. Naturally, the company stated that the accidents weren’t the fault of its cars.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Hey, she’s wearing a 2016 Santorum sweater skirt...way cool!
The 1956 motorama movie projected a future contrasted with the present; in the present (1956), a nuclear family of hot and perspiring convertible occupants are attempting to travel to the beach - but they are stuck, immobile, in an insufferable freeway traffic jam. In a flash-forward to the future, they are cruising at high speed in air conditioned comfort along an automated freeway (with no other vehicles to be seen) in their turbine-powered Firebird.
The concept (now over fifty years old) was that this future was not unreasonably remote, and would be provided by General Motors, yet is consistent with current projections (2008) for future automotive travel using electronic vehicle control and improved highway infrastructure.
How about this?
“Google car, take me to Safeway?”
“Are you sure? Based on the weight gain I’m detecting from your seat, perhaps we should head over to Weight Watcher’s instead...”
“No, I want to go to Safeway!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that; Weight Watcher’s first. As soon as I scan your attendance ticket, then we’ll go to Safeway. And I’ll need to see your receipt, of course.”
It might be able to deal with single potholes, but what will it do with clusters of 20 or so?
And will it be able to distinguish between a shallow puddle and a foot-deep crater filled with water?
I hate turtle necks. A girlfriend gave me a turtleneck sweater, so I had to wear it. It chaffed and looked goofy. As soon as she went away, so did the sweater.
I did 69 once in a VW microbus. Google wasn't there.
Am I the only one who sees these cars as a future tool of dictators? Once they’ve become widespread in society, they’ll eventually become mandatory. And once that happens, forget going anywhere your Kitty Overlords (or any overlord) doesn’t want you to go.
I agree totally. But another "FReeper" informed me a while back that I was paranoid, and that "it can't happen here".
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