MIT’s Moral Machine asks players to make decisions on what they autonomous vehicles should do in an accident situation.
I happened onto MIT’s Moral Machine website (http://moralmachine.mit.edu/) a few days ago and I have to say, it presents an interesting take on the perspectives of human moral decisions and machine intelligence when it comes to autonomous vehicles. It’s a judging game of sorts that asks participants to choose between two evils in an accident scenario- do you let vehicle passengers die or do you run over different pedestrians that may include the elderly, young, overweight, doctors or criminals (and more).
It was designed to ask what outcome is more acceptable to humans in regards to what actions machine AI would choose in those situations. Suffice it to say, I leaned more to saving pedestrians than passengers but hey, they chose to get in the vehicle, little Jimmy was just crossing the street to go to school. That got me thinking about what the latest developments autonomous vehicles are undergoing and has anything interesting happened over the last month that’s worth talking about and it turns out there is, though most are not moralistic in nature.
Former Indy racer Sam Schmidt with his Arrow SAM CAR, which allows him to drive using head movements, voice commands and breath.
Let’s just throw this out there now- the vehicle isn’t totally autonomous as former Indy racer Sam Schmidt does control it, however the vehicle does most of the work for him. The vehicle in question is a modified Corvette Z06 Stingray, otherwise known as the Arrow SAM CAR, which was designed for Sam and other quadriplegics for use on the racetrack. In fact, Sam was recently granted a Nevada license to drive the vehicle on public roads (http://dmvnv.com/news/16014_Arrow_SamCar.pdf) as the state classifies the vehicle as ‘autonomous’ according to Nevada law.
Arrow outfitted the Vette or SAM with four infrared cameras that face the driver and track eight sensors on a headset the driver wears, which is used to track head movement to steer the vehicle. The driver uses a mouthpiece equipped with sensors they breathe into to accelerate or sip to brake and shifting gears is done vocally using a microphone positioned on the headset. All the data gathered from the sensors is handed-off to an onboard computer that controls actuators for the steering wheels and pedals. More information on Arrow’s SAM CAR can be found here (http://community.arrow.com/sam/).
Why drive when you can sit! Nissan’s ProPilot is an autonomous chair that makes waiting in line more bearable. (pic from prn)
According to California State University (Sacramento), Americans spend on average 37-billion hours a year waiting in lines (http://www.csus.edu/indiv/b/blakeh/mgmt/documents/opm101supplc.pdf). Nobody enjoys it but it’s something we must endure if we want the basics in life such as a driver’s license, food or just trying to use the bathroom at an outdoor festival. Most often, we have to stand while waiting in line, which makes it more of an inconvenience. Those days may be over however, thanks to Nissan, who have designed an autonomous chair that will shuttle users to the head of the line automatically without ever having to stand.
The company’s ProPilot chair detects the chair proceeding it and follows it while maintaining a pre-selected distance and following a predefined path. The chair was designed using the same technology found in Nissan’s semi-autonomous Serena minivan, which uses cameras and sensors to maintain a safe driving distance behind single-lane traffic. The company is currently taking applications from restaurants in Japan who would like feature their ProPilot chairs at their respective establishments.
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Uber’s ATC has navigation issues, accused of causing several accidents despite being equipped with a ton of hardware. Pic: https://www.uber.com/info/atc/car/
Companies such as Google and Volvo have tested their autonomous vehicles on city streets in the hopes that one day drivers will turn into riders and traffic accidents will become a thing of the past. Unfortunately, Uber didn’t get that memo as reports have been coming out of their test venture in Pittsburgh that their ATC (Advanced Technology Center) car was involved in several unconfirmed fender-benders and was even seen traveling down a one-way street- in the opposite direction. Video taken by Uber driver Nathan Stachelek shows one of the autonomous vehicles making an abrupt U-turn in the middle of an intersection before driving away. (https://www.facebook.com/nathan.stachelek/videos/10153868417068309/).
Pittsburgh contracted with Uber earlier this year to test a fleet of 100 of the company’s autonomous vehicles, which are outfitted with an impressive array of hardware including 20 cameras, 7 lasers, GPS and LiDAR. All of which is designed to provide the modified Ford Focus a 3D map of its position based on landmarks, street signs/signals and other contextual information. Despite Nathan’s video and other accident witnesses, Uber is continuing their tests in Pittsburgh and has recently contracted with San Francisco to begin closed testing (no public passengers) there sometime in the near future.
Komatsu’s Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle ditches the cab completely in favor of vehicle controllers, GPS, ODS and Wi-Fi. (via Komatsu)
City streets are not the only places autonomous vehicles are being fielded as Komatsu has been deploying self-driving heavy equipment since 2008 in Chile and Australia, however unlike city streets, there really isn’t anything to crash into besides dirt and rock if accidents happen. Like most of the autonomous vehicles being tested, Komatsu’s Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS) are supported by a human driver in case issues arise during testing. That’s all changed however, with their latest Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle, which dumped the driver altogether in favor of technology alone.
Doing away with the cab allows the vehicle to maintain an even load centered above the independent 4-wheel drive and since there is no front or back to the vehicle, it doesn’t require a 3-point turn to go from one place to another to load/unload. That makes the vehicle more efficient as well. Komatsu designed their IAHV using vehicle controllers, high precision GPS, obstacle detection system (ODS) and a wireless network system. The vehicle uses the GPS to find its position and uses the wireless platform to travel on a pre-designated path, making it easy to get from point A to B without issue. More information on the IAHV can be found here ()
Finn Yonker’s Fly-Mode 3D printed autonomous concept car features an inflatable screen, integrated drone and joystick controls. (via cocreate)
The last entry in this autonomous news roundup comes from the winner of Local Motors’ Essence of Autonomy Challenge- a contest to come up with the most interesting design for the company’s next 3D printed vehicle. You can understand why Finn Yonker’s Fly-Mode was the winner just by looking at it (above) but the features are what separate it from the others.
While being fully autonomous and doing away with a steering wheel altogether, the vehicle uses an offset hard-display on the center console for navigational and main UI functions. Beyond that, it features an inflatable display that overlays the windshield and uses an overhead projector to display both live and AR/VR video taken from an onboard drone. Yeah, a drone, that’s integrated into the rear of the vehicle. It’s designed to give passengers something to do while traveling to their destination and is both autonomous and pilot controlled using a joystick located on the center console as well.
What’s more, the seats feature four pneumatic seat actuators that move with each of the drone’s four rotors, giving passengers the feeling they are flying with it. When the drone’s power becomes low, it automatically returns to the vehicle and docks with an actuated landing pad at the rear of the vehicle to recharge. As part of the contest, former MythBuster Grant Imahara will work with Finn and Local Motors to make the car a reality. More information about Finn’s Fly-Mode vehicle can be found here.
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