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Self-driving cars will be on the roads within five years, says Ford CEO

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Self-driving cars will be on the roads within five years, says Ford CEO | Financial Post

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields said that an automaker probably will introduce a self-driving vehicle within half a decade, but it won’t be his company, which is focusing on less expensive features that assist in driving.

“Fully autonomous vehicles are a real possibility,” Fields said at a Jan. 5 dinner with analysts and journalists on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “Probably, in the next five years, you’ll see somebody introduce autonomous vehicles.......


Then you have to put a leash on your CAR!!!!! :partay:

carstop.gif
 
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may be in very select small areas. It will take much longer to get to scale up
 
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I can think of a whole bunch of weird scenarios for autonomous cars.

Dominoes delivers your pizza to your front door...with nobody in the car.
You can call in your order at a supermarket and have your car go get it...you stay home.
You fly across the country..but you send you car a few days first...to pick you up at the airport!!
You tell your car to go out and splash people by driving through big puddles while they are walking on the sidewalk,

Or a terror network delivering the bomb at the doorstep. These drones and robots on road, air and water are going to be a nightmare for the security officials.
 
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Elon Musk says Tesla’s fully autonomous cars will hit the road in 3 years

They have been testing these driver-less and automated cars for over two years now, in California, Kansas, Florida, Washington D.C and in Texas. I think out of over a million tests, each test lasting for hours, there was ONE small accident so far. But that's it. So this is already happening, but soon they will actually hit the market for sale.
 
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I am a big fan of abidi. this kind of news are truely of my interest.
 
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Or a terror network delivering the bomb at the doorstep. These drones and robots on road, air and water are going to be a nightmare for the security officials.

That would be an interesting scenario for border police. A mass of suicide autonomous vehicles trying to get through.

They have been testing these driver-less and automated cars for over two years now, in California, Kansas, Florida, Washington D.C and in Texas. I think out of over a million tests, each test lasting for hours, there was ONE small accident so far. But that's it. So this is already happening, but soon they will actually hit the market for sale.

Yes, 2 years ago the big buzz was about future cars being electric and now the new buzz is they drive themselves.

fascinating video on what the google self driving car sees:

 
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Daimlers self driving truck USA

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Self-driving Mercedes robot-truck debuts on German autobahn (VIDEO) — RT News


Daimler and Mercedes-Benz have taken the first autonomous-driving truck for a spin on a motorway in southern Germany, after a special license was issued that allowed the robot truck to hit the public-access road.
The Mercedes-Benz Actros, a 430-horsepower truck, equipped with the intelligent ‘Highway Pilot’ system, drove for 14 kilometers (9 miles) on the A8 motorway, without the help of the driver. Fitted with smart systems including radars, cameras and active speed regulators, the truck made a successful journey between Stuttgart airport and Denkendorf.

Daimler unveiled the technology in May on the Hoover Dam in Nevada, but on Friday, a special permit was issued by the Baden-Wurttemberg state which allowed the truck to drive on motorways on an automated basis.

“The multi-sensor fusion, i.e. the combination of proven new-generation assistance and safety systems and sensors, enables the truck with the Highway Pilot system to continually observe the entire area in front of the vehicle and to take control itself in certain situations,” Daimler said in a press release.

While praising great results in autopilot system’s ability to operate fully autonomously, the engineers still stressed the importance of having a driver present in the cabin at all times. Daimler says that the Highway Pilot is able to steer the truck by itself, while the driver “retains full responsibility, needs to monitor the traffic at all times and must be able to intervene at any time.”

Daimler explained that during Friday’s test drive, the system offered the driver the chance to take over the truck’s operation as soon as the vehicle entered the flowing traffic in the right-hand lane.

The driver at this point had the option of confirming or denying actions at the press of a button. Kept on self-driving mode, Actros successfully stayed in its lane while maintaining safe distance to the vehicle in front of at 80 kilometers per hour. It also did well with breaking. Just before finishing the test, the system asked the driver to take control with the truck reverting from automated driving mode to manual control or ‘Highway Pilot Off.’

The first autonomous series production truck on a German Autobahn #HighwayPilot@MercedesBenz#Actros#sftpic.twitter.com/8r4NmRBu76

— Daimler Trucks&Buses (@Daimler_CV) October 2, 2015
“Today's premiere is a further important step towards the market maturity of autonomously driving trucks–and towards the safe, sustainable road freight transport of the future,” said Wolfgang Bernhard, board member responsible for Daimler Trucks and Buses, who was on board the vehicle as it made its debut.

Daimler explained that should the driver bad driving conditions, the system would alert the driver to take over the controls with audible and visual signals. If for some reason the driver fails to respond, the truck will be brought to a full stop automatically.

The "magic" blue button for activation of Highway Pilot system @MercedesBenz#Actros#sftpic.twitter.com/zMoyI30Z9w

— Daimler Trucks&Buses (@Daimler_CV) October 2, 2015
Prior to debut, Actros’ front-mounted radar and a stereo camera, as well as Daimler's Adaptive Cruise Control system, have already been tested for around 20,000 kilometers on test routes in Germany and the United States.

State premier Winfried Kretschmann, who was present in the cabin seat, praised the safety features of the truck.

“Autonomously driving and networked vehicles improve the flow of traffic and can play a decisive role in helping to avoid traffic jams and relieving the strain on drivers,” he said in a statement. “They also boost traffic safety.”

Daimler also said that the autonomous truck’s design generates at least five percent fewer CO2 emissions, thanks to optimized gear shifting, acceleration and braking.

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Self driving bus in China
 
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Daimlers self driving truck USA


See...big rig. What did i tell you a few months ago when we had a similar debate (well, an exchange of opinion actually, 3-4 posts don't count as debate)? :tongue:

You were of the opinion lorries and delivery vans would be the first to make use of autonomous, but the big rig is where the really big €$'s comes from with savings on driver wages/night sleeping time gone 'cuz the rig will just keep on going etc etc
 
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See...big rig. What did i tell you a few months ago when we had a similar debate (well, an exchange of opinion actually, 3-4 posts don't count as debate)? :tongue:

I said they will probably ease the public in with Taxis as people aren't going to be comfortable with a multi-ton autonomous machine coming up behind them on the highway. Daimler does say they still want a driver behind the wheel.

Google on the other hand doesn't even have a steering wheel in their prototype cars.
 
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Daimler does say they still want a driver behind the wheel.

Just words....the first one that gets it right with completely autonomous will have an imba advantage over everyone else....as once you break down the costs of owning and operating a big rig, gas and personnel costs are top 2. So, if you can eliminate personnel cost (safely and reliably), every trucking company will want your product.

That little blob from Google with no steering wheel....well that's a fantasy of social engineers all over.....a capsule coming to pick you up with no driver input, always keeping with traffic rules etc etc....
 
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Just words....the first one that gets it right with completely autonomous will have an imba advantage over everyone else...

Oh I agree 100%. The question is will governments make some standardizations (no doubt 10,000 pages long) on which software they will allow on their roads to drive vehicles. The companies which pull it off first could make a lot of money in royalties. Maybe the government will then require it to pass more and more elaborate road tests each year (as in driving for hours in a perpetually hazardous course) making it prohibitively expensive for a newcomer to jump in. Each year your car is checked to make sure it has the latest updates.


That little blob from Google with no steering wheel....well that's a fantasy of social engineers all over.....a capsule coming to pick you up with no driver input, always keeping with traffic rules etc etc....

Certainly geared more towards consumers than to companies seeking economic savings.
 
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only possible under certain limited conditions, on certain kind of roads. 100% self driven cars on all kinds of roads and situations impossible with next 25 years.
 
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only possible under certain limited conditions, on certain kind of roads. 100% self driven cars on all kinds of roads and situations impossible with next 25 years.

As long as it can navigate most roads that will be considered "good enough".


 
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As long as it can navigate most roads that will be considered "good enough".


i cant watch the videos but thanked the post anyway. what kind of input are these cars getting. do they have optical sensors or something like sonar. likely the car will predict the path of every object in its vision and calculate how that picture will change through the next few second and trace its path accordingly.
 
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