Group Actions
Engagement
  • Author Author: Catwell
  • Date Created: Date Created
  • Views 1199 views
  • Likes 0 likes
  • Comments 8 comments
Related
Recommended

Self-Driving Cars are Here... to Stay

Catwell

image

We will soon have our own personal driver.. maybe if we want it or not (image via Pixabay)


When we got word self-driving automobile technology was being developed, it was like hearing that hovercrafts were going into mass production – no one believed it. But now that the U.S. government pledged $4 billion to develop the technology, we’d better believe it’s going to be a thing.

 

The Department of Transportation recently released details for the initiative. The Obama administration has set aside $4 billion of the 2017 budget to invest in autonomous car technology over the next decade. The administration also announced a national standard for the technology will be released in July, hopefully regulating the state-by-state regulations now in practice.

 

At the Detroit Auto Show, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said autonomous automobiles would potentially decrease the prevalence of automobile accidents, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and truly change the dynamic of mobility for the American People. This is already a focus in Japan.

 

According to a recent article published by the Wall Street Journal, Japanese taxi service Robot Taxi is planning to begin testing in 2016. Fifty residents of Kanagawa, just outside of Tokyo, will receive free round trip rides from their homes to the city to run errands, and back again, in a self-driving car. A driver will be seated behind the wheel, in case disaster strikes, but if successful, the company plans to have a fully autonomous taxi fleet by 2020. But the taxi service means much more to Japanese residents than just taking a cool ride.

 

Roughly one-third of Japan’s population is over 60 years of age. With few or no children, some elderly persons may find themselves without caretakers. Autonomous vehicles offer significant mobility to the elderly population and truly transform their quality of life nearing old age. It doesn’t solve every problem, but it will help. And that’s just the beginning.

 

In Europe, Daimler is transforming how we think of product transportation. It recently made history by being the first to test a mass-produced, self-driving Highway Pilot truck on Germany’s Autobahn 8, a public road. There’s much work to be done to transform product transportation, but if truckers have the option to take a break every now and again, without harming themselves or others, and make their deadline, it’s not such a bad gig after all.

 

Self-driving cars are coming whether we want them or not. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick allegedly told Tesla’s Steve Juvertson he would purchase all 500,000 autonomous automobiles the company plans to release in 2020. Whether or not he meant it literally remains to be seen, but it does signal a significant shift in the taxi industry, and how we view driving altogether.

According to a London experiment, self-driving cars use a complex system of laser technology to assess its surroundings. Much like the way in which bats ‘see’ the world using sonar radar, autonomous cars ‘see’ the world using laser technology and light. In the London experiment, you can see what an autonomous car allegedly sees when it’s driving you around, and you’ll probably feel much safer.

 

There are many tests that have yet to be done to determine just how safe autonomous vehicles are. If indeed automobile accidents and greenhouse gas emission can be reduced, it’s certainly worth investing in the technology. The promise of enhanced mobility for the elderly and disabled is also a real, tangible benefit that cannot be ignored.

Keep your eyes on the industry if you’re looking to snag an autonomous vehicle of your own by 2020. It won’t be cheap, but the convenience will probably be well worth it.

 

Have a news tip? Message me at:

http://twitter.com/Cabe_Atwell

  • in reply to rscasny

    I think we're getting a good glimpse into the future here. It might be far out (much further than 2020) but it is interesting that we're fast reaching the point where technically none of this is impossible any more, i.e. from a technical standpoint none of this will be fiction very soon. It is now more of a question about what manufacturers do with this capability, if they want to.

    We're also at the point in time where it would be surprising if vehicle manufacturers were not thinking about it.

     

    You raise a good point, why would people want this, when it is fun to drive, or when people have ego machines. It 's a difficult question. Maybe it could slow adoption, or destroy it outright. Perhaps driver-less cars  do not need to look like cars, maybe they are better considered as a new mode of transportation (like a bus for example still has wheels but isn't a car).

     

    For all the mundane tasks (like going shopping or to work) it isn't fun for everyone to drive, especially with heavy traffic or bad weather, where there isn't much driving just crawling.

     

    The convenience of being able to click a button and have your car right outside, or instructed to self-locate a parking space after dropping you off somewhere might win out. Also, since there is no need to see the

    road, the car could be a work area with coffee machine! or a shareable mode of transport so that if it is not in use, it is being shared with others if you 'click to accept' travel requests -   if the car was making me $100 a day, I might be willing to pay a few thousand $$ more for a vehicle with self-driving capabilities and put up with the cleaning.

    I know this is all speculative (but we are talking at least half a decade from now and likely longer), but it all depends on what people want and are willing to pay for - the manufacturers can almost make it since the technology is fast getting there.

     

    As another idea maybe personal ownership of a car (i.e. 'driver-less car' if we consider it as a new mode of transport) would change, and half the amount of  vehicles could serve a neighborhood through purchase/lease schemes.

  • The folks that write these are more dreamers than technologists. Facts gotten to support their ideas without a meaningful look at society today. The hard thing  to figure when is science a benefit or a solution looking for the problem.

    Clem

  • I vehemently disagree with the conclusions stated in this article. I mean, where should are start debunking the opinions?

     

    Let's start with Japan. the article states 1/3 of the population is over 60 (elderly) so the demand for self-driving cars is there. Well, an older population will always be a shrinking demographic (unless cryogenics keeps us alive for centuries AND you can defrost someone at absolute zero -270C in minutes!). Talk to a marketer and she or he will probably say, market to the young and build a generation of return customers.

     

    Granted, I think there is a market for self-driving transportation for the sick or the elderly. But what about a 16-year old. One thing engineers and product dreamers often forget is that many human activities are not utility in nature; rather, they provide an important culture purpose such as a "coming of age" ritual. And in America, getting your driver's license at 16 is a big coming of age thing. Why? Imagine a 16 year old guy asking his high school sweetheart out for the first time in a self-driving car?  (Oh Betty Lou, how about taking a spin in my new self-driving car?) That's why being in control of a car is more than a mobility device:

    image

    (The above photo is from American Grafitti.)

     

    Let me get serious now. Let's talk about Chicago and cars. If you have a car in Chicago, your big concern is not driving; rather, it is parking. So, let's go back to the future and talk about the year of the winter vortex:

    image

    Let the innovators from Silicon Valley figure out how to get a bunch of self driving cars out of this mess -- an accidental driving turned parking nightmare on Lake Shore Drive due to a wild snowstorm.

     

    Take a look around where you live. I'm sure you have seen these:

    imageimage

    What in the world would some drive this monster in chicago where gas costs the most and the truck is too big to get around? My friends, this is what I call an ego truck. Our ego and self-identity is often intertwined with the vehicles we drive. No one will give up the driving to a computer if they own an ego F150 truck unless they are forced to by gov regulation.