Self driving vehicles

https://shift.newco.co/fords-road-to-full-autonomy-36cb9cca330#.6ixf82xey

I'm conflicted on this. I can see the need for autonomous vehicles but I don't have to like it. I see the need on freeways especially with vehicles that tailgate,..... hasn't anyone learned the 2-second rule? And I can see the advantage on long trips where I could read a book or have a snooze. I feel sorry for anyone working OTR, long or short haul.

I am not conflicted, I WANT these NOW.

I like to drive, but not in traffic, open road driving with shifting and corners and scenery, the fun stuff.

Yes, we all see the "morons" who I am sure think they are good drivers, but since they are "morons" they can't think so............
The test is if you "think" most drivers around you are idiots, then the problem is YOU not them.

Mandatory auto drive to use some highways would be fine with me.

Losing steering wheels and pedals no, I still want to drive when it is fun to do so.
If I don't want steering wheel and pedals I will use our current "Auto-Drive" technology, a taxi

If they produce all future cars with no steering wheel or pedals, time to buy up all the old vehicles U can get your hands on and rotate them when one dies. If this is mandated and U cant drive normal vehicles, then U might as well shoot yourself. We have way too many mandated nannies already in vehicles! I can see it as an option, like all nannies, or even a button to turn it off (which never really turns them off completely), then maybe but don't give them an inch or they will take a light yr. Say NO to nannies!!

Self driving cars will ultimately fail for the same reason communism (not socialism, not Marxism, true text-book communism) does. There will always be a few people who refuse to bow to the system, and the system can't adapt to those few.

Scary Damn thought, if you ask me. Gps systems are still unreliable and inaccurate. Gonna be a lot of people waking up dead in these things.

adsm08 said:

Self driving cars will ultimately fail for the same reason communism (not socialism, not Marxism, true text-book communism) does. There will always be a few people who refuse to bow to the system, and the system can't adapt to those few.

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Splitting hairs really. Democratic Socialism (for all u Bern supporters out there) has been taken to it's logical conclusion in Venezuela...how is that going.

Pretty big stretch to compare speed limits, following distances and general "rules of the road" to a social system like communism.
Communism can't work because it is opposite of one of human natures driving forces, greed, desire for a better life for yourself, your kids and your family.

Auto-drive actually fits right in to human nature, our greed and laziness.
I would rather spend 45min to an hour doing something else(greed part) than easing clutch or brake pedal in and out in a rush hour commute(lazy part).

I could be spending a few hours carrying water and doing laundry manually in a washtub, but I would rather put the clothes into a machine and let it do the work, while I do some thing else, washers and dryers caught on because of our greed and laziness.

Auto-drive is the same thing, driving in traffic doesn't require much intelligence, just full time ATTENTION, but we do not have that because we get distracted, bored really, and accidents happen.

Accidents can happen if machines fail, brakes fail, throttle sticks, wheel falls off, but those are few and far between, most accidents do come down to human error.
There will FOR SURE be accidents with Auto-Drive because of failures in the system, no question about it.
But there will be far less than we have now, of that I am sure.

You may be against Auto-drive, but unless you are doing your own laundry by hand, you don't have a leg to stand on, you already sold out to automation, now we are just talking about degrees of selling out, lol

Luddites unite!

Doofy said:

Scary Damn thought, if you ask me. Gps systems are still unreliable and inaccurate. Gonna be a lot of people waking up dead in these things.

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It is getting better fast but still isn't perfect in the ag world. You still see unplanted patches here and there where it lost signal and quit planting. Dealing with side hills have been a struggle because the entire world isn't mapped in 3D for gps. You end up 2-3' more downhill than if you had a regular marker if you don't watch it. Speed would vary with that too.

I was talking to a guy a year ago, he was just cruising along and his machine just glitched out and went hard left. It about threw him out of the seat... he was not impressed.

Haha! Farmer left a biscuit in his seat, I'll bet. New technology scares me so it takes a long time for me to embrace it. I am still on a flip phone while the rest of th world has been using smart phones for years. Something about old dogs and new tricks...

RonD said:

Pretty big stretch to compare speed limits, following distances and general "rules of the road" to a social system like communism.

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Not really. Not for the comparison that I am making. My point is that if one person in a Communist system under-contributes the whole system falls apart.

With a self-driving car if you have one person out of line it confuses the car. One of the regular and more persistent issues the prototype SD cars have had is that it can't compensate for human error of other drivers. This has most commonly presented in the scenario of a self-driving car trying to merge into traffic. If the speed limit is X, and traffic is moving at X+5 the car that is programmed to not break the law crashes into other cars because it can't compensate and make decisions like the human brain can.

I try not to speed, but I am human, I get distracted, I loose track of where I am or how fast I am going. Sometimes I have a dyslexic moment behind the wheel and use the skinny pedal to decelerate from 45 MPH because my mind tells me if the needle is going down so is my speed, even though accelerating past 45 also makes the needle go down.

You may be against Auto-drive, but unless you are doing your own laundry by hand, you don't have a leg to stand on, you already sold out to automation, now we are just talking about degrees of selling out, lol

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Again, not really. I am also not against the DPS6 for all it's faults. I am all for advancements in science, technology, safety, and many other areas.

I think self driving cars are a wonderful, marvelous idea. The real issue is that I don't think our tech is there yet, and as such, with the huge potential for catastrophe I think we need to refine the idea a lot more before putting it into common use.

Now why did I bring up the DPS6? All of it's problems (search for Focus and Fiesta clutch problems if you don't know what I am talking about) are rooted in all the same faults as self-driving cars currently have, namely the software just can't compensate for unknown variable the same way the human brain can. In the case of the DPS6 the computer can't feel the shudder the same way a driver can, and so it can't adjust the engagement to prevent it. Same deal with self-drivers, a single other vehicle operating outside the programmed parameters throws the whole system out of whack and the self-driving car causes a wreck that a human driver would have avoided.

Yes, at some point we need to put stuff like this into service, in a limited fashion at first, if we are going to get the information we need to advance the technology to a fully workable model. As one of my mentors used to put it, "Sometimes you just have to step back and punt".


And now to clarify my true position, as it has once again been misread.

What I am opposed to is me ever buying a vehicle built after 1988. I like some level of automation. I like power windows and locks. I like newer, advanced engines, see my build thread where I am in the process of putting a SOHC 4.0 in my 87. But these are all things that I can retrofit into an older body, and use older electronics to work. No GPS tracking my position (yes, I own a cell phone, no we are not going there right now) and actions. No advanced computers to tattle on me when I speed or when I brake check the idiot tailgating me. I genuinely prefer a manual transmission, not because I think autos are unreliable, but because when the manual breaks it is easier (and cheaper) for me to fix myself. I prefer manual transfer case and hubs because I think we can all agree that Ford can't make an auto 4x4 system that works well. And I prefer the older vehicle bodies not for their construction value, heft, or some perception of better structural integrity. I prefer older vehicle bodies for simplicity of service and I just like the way they look.

keep calm, sit back and relax. the government is in full control and you have nothing to worry about.

we, the government, are an assemblage of the best intentioned and most dedicated human units available (can't say man or woman anymore) that utilize data compiled from the most dedicated analysts combined with theories of outcome from the most highly regarded intellectual political appointee's that have as a stated purpose to elevate the status of your well being and that will be best served by your full compliance to our directives.

You got this^^

RonD said:

Pretty big stretch to compare speed limits, following distances and general "rules of the road" to a social system like communism.
Communism can't work because it is opposite of one of human natures driving forces, greed, desire for a better life for yourself, your kids and your family.

Auto-drive actually fits right in to human nature, our greed and laziness.
I would rather spend 45min to an hour doing something else(greed part) than easing clutch or brake pedal in and out in a rush hour commute(lazy part).

I could be spending a few hours carrying water and doing laundry manually in a washtub, but I would rather put the clothes into a machine and let it do the work, while I do some thing else, washers and dryers caught on because of our greed and laziness.

Auto-drive is the same thing, driving in traffic doesn't require much intelligence, just full time ATTENTION, but we do not have that because we get distracted, bored really, and accidents happen.

Accidents can happen if machines fail, brakes fail, throttle sticks, wheel falls off, but those are few and far between, most accidents do come down to human error.
There will FOR SURE be accidents with Auto-Drive because of failures in the system, no question about it.
But there will be far less than we have now, of that I am sure.

You may be against Auto-drive, but unless you are doing your own laundry by hand, you don't have a leg to stand on, you already sold out to automation, now we are just talking about degrees of selling out, lol

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Great post

Biggest problem with autodrive or any other luxury that makes our life easier...we live longer and have more time to dream up schemes to screw everyone else.

Give us harder to drive, more work involved, more stress, more worry, more financial burdens, more WTF moments and it will keep the population under control and we won't need any of this Martial Law, Zombies, or other creative hoaxes to kill us off...we can do it automatically...