Google Inc. has cleared a major road block in its quest to introduce self-driving cars to the roads of the world.
Coming Sooner than You Think: Driverless Cars
Google Inc. has cleared a major road block in its quest to introduce self-driving cars to the roads of the world.
The Nevada Motor Vehicles Department has given one of the company’s prototypes the first-ever license to drive itself, after test runs down the bustling Las Vegas Strip and other streets showed the vehicle to be as safe – or safer – than human drivers.
The modified Toyota Prius, steered by sophisticated software using sensors, radar and cameras, was issued a special red licence plate with an infinity symbol and the words Autonomous Car to differentiate it from regular vehicles.
”When there comes a time that vehicle manufacturers market autonomous vehicles to the public, that infinity symbol will appear on a green license plate,” Department Director Bruce Breslow said.
Nevada became the first state in the country to develop licensing criteria for self-driving cars when it unveiled the new regulations in March.
Until now Google’s test fleet of self-driving cars always carried a human driver ready to intervene in emergencies, but its new status in Nevada will allow the company to start testing cars with no humans aboard.
CL
better to develop cars that need no gasoline
Nobody
Seems kind of silly to drive a car with no humans aboard. I guess as a delivery mechanism (say when you rent a car, have it delivered to you). More interesting is what restrictions they would have on humans on board. For example, pile the car full of kids, no adults? People who are disabled, blind, etc. Interesting questions.
I always thought the real market for this technology will be as added safety features to drivers with cars. We see a bit of it in terms of parking aids right now, but cars that pull out of cruse control before you hit the breaks, hit the breaks if you are about to collide, throw up warning bells when a car is about to side wipe you or cut you off from another lane, or when you are being tailgated. Things like that.
I would expect the government to start mandating that kind of thing in cars in the not too distant future, like they require airbags now. At least they will be less likely to get people killed with such mandates (its not clear if such crutches make people more sloppy or not, so maybe it will make people worse).
Reading CrownHeights.info on the way to work while the car drives itself seems kind of far away.
Self-Learning Bochur
Who cares about a self-driving car? The kuntz is to make a self-learning bochur. The bochur can be sleeping or playing and the learning happens on its own. Then we will need a self-supervising hanholah who will take attendance and test this self-learning bochur.
Better yet, to solve the shlichus-crisis, we need to send out yungerleit on virtual-shlichus to self-imaginary places to open self-serving Chabad Houses. The virtual shluchim will get around these imaginary cities in these self-driving cars.
Maybe, we should wake up this sleeping bochur because my self-typed computer is sending silly comments about silly subjects which makes myself-silly.
Would I be able to send my kids to schoo
If it’s eh case and it’s safe I will buy today
But what happen if on the way from school the is no more gas !l,,
lrs
how will anyone ever get any exercise. at least with the current cars, we turn the wheel and use the pedal……
(bicycles, bicycles!)