Mankind is reaching the extremes of laziness

[Jim Oaks]

Google got a lot of buzz earlier this year for its demonstration of a pod-like self-driving car without a steering wheel or pedals. The company is now showing a new prototype of this autonomous vehicle that’s more complete than the earlier mock-up, and intends to begin testing this fully functional prototype on public roads in the near future.
The previous Google autonomous pod shown in May was an early demonstrator, and lacked things like real headlights and a fully functional drivetrain. This new prototype looks similar to that earlier car, with a small, round body shape and sparse, two-seat interior that has only a screen for showing the car’s route, a start button, and an emergency stop button. The new prototype does have a few changes, like new headlights, new wheels and tires, and a more integrated device on the roof that houses various sensors and cameras.
Google has still not revealed the Detroit-based company it contracted to build this self-driving car, but earlier rumors suggested this mystery supplier could be Roush, the company known for its Mustang upgrades. We expect to learn more about the Google autonomous pod next year, as the company said it intends to begin testing the car on public roads in California in 2015. Google’s so-called “safety drivers” will still be at the helm of temporary manual controls during the testing process while the company further develops its autonomous driving systems.
Stay tuned for more news about the Google autonomous car as we hear more about this vehicle’s development and possible path to production.


Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/featur...ional-autonomous-car-prototype/#ixzz3Mt9r6yPH
Follow us: @AutomobileMag on Twitter | AutomobileMag on Facebook

It's sad that we're moving towards a future to where we do less and less for ourselves, and we won't even be driving our cars anymore.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I can see the use in a rush hour scenario. I used to work in vancouver many years ago. A 30 mile trip would take 2 hours. It would be a good time to catch up on paperwork. Or sit back and have a few to unwind on the way home

Richard

 

[Snoranger]

While i do agree that we people are getting too lazy... There are quite a few people who shouldn't be allowed to drive a car.

 

[RonD]

Lazy is when you need to do something but don't do it.

Things like automatic transmission or even automatic driving are not being lazy, you don't NEED to shift trans or steer car.

Like using a powered lawn mower is not being lazy, if you CHOOSE to cut grass with a push mower, or a pair of scissors for that matter, lol, you are NOT a harder worker than the guy with the power mower, you simply CHOOSE to do it that way and work more at accomplishing the same task.

This, of course, is just an opinion and I don't choose to spit on my ancestors for developing these things so I use them; I use the elevator not the stairs, I turn up the heat with the thermostat not adding a log to the fire, I turn down the thermostat not add a block of ice in front of the fan, I buy sliced bread,.........ect, the list is endless.
Not lazy just don't NEED to do those things anymore because an earlier human was smart enough to develop these things.

Just having some fun, Merry Xmas

 

[adsm08]

I agree with Sno. There are a LOT of people out there who need to be not driving. I am currently a huge proponent of having to retake the road test when you renew your driver license.

I for one have no plans to give up driving for myself, or my manual transmissions any time soon though. I just enjoy it too much.

I am interested in how this thing would be piloted into a service bay, especially since I suspect GPS plays a large part in it's ability to drive itself and you would loose that signal a few feet into the building.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

I'd rather have a drone, and leave the auto car in californicate , they have an abundance of terrible drivers anyway.
When they start giving drivers licenses to all the "undocumented workers" they'll NEED the auto cars...

...imho...

 

[adsm08]

Auto cars, with sufficiently accurate GPS tech have the potential for huge benefits in traffic flow management. In California, especially in the big cities, I can see huge benefits from this tech.

Minority Report and I, Robot did wonderful jobs of showcasing this aspect of the idea.

 

[RonD]

I would assume you could plug in a remote to steer and work the pedals for service.
Wireless remote would be way to tempting for hackers, lol.

Yes, I agree, fully automated "freeways" would virtually eliminate the "stop and go hell" caused by human drivers.

Brake lights don't have a degree of brightness, they are either on or off, as it should be.
In heavy traffic conditions when a person puts on their brake lights the person behind has to slow down as well and usually more than the car in front of them.
And the next car slows down even more and so on, this causes a cascade effect until cars a 1/2 mile back come to a stop.

When you finally get thru a "jam" of this sort you are surprised there is no accident or any reason for the slowdown.

This has all been proven by mathematics and visual screening of traffic slowdowns.

When you remove the human element there is no reason to "over brake", slow down yes, but even that could be avoided because there would be no "sudden moves" that often start the cascade effect that brings traffic to a halt.

We are years away from anything like that, auto drive cars are a needed step but they are just for newsprint now, and testing.

I agree there are some bad drivers on the roads, but I think 90% of those "bad drivers" are the ones that think they are good drivers, lol.
Those "sudden moves" are all made by "bad drivers" "bad" because they cause the traffic jams by thinking they are good drivers that can get though traffic faster by changing lanes without turn signals.

 

[hank857]

Not lazy ,but one of the latest issues with how the government wants to control everything. This was a Disney idea years ago with their views of the future. Well the future is here and this is exactly what the 'new world order' wants. No more of having people being able to tow, race or whatever. Be nice little sheeple and just sit and we will take you to where ever. No way will I give up any of my vehicles for these. If they do come into play they should be restricted to secondary streets and not major thorough fares.

 

[RonD]

That's a jump in subject matter, lol.

An individuals rights and self-determination is fundamental in free societies, no question about that.
BUT.............society means a group, there are benefits for being part of a group and there are drawbacks.
One of the drawbacks are rules that prevent the an individuals choice of behavior from harming other individuals in the group.
In this subject matter those rules would be Speed Limits, stop lights, and general "rules of the road".
Automated cars may take away an individuals perceived "rights" to drive over posted speed limit, swerve in and out of lanes, and drive in any manner they want regardless of others, but when an individual chooses to step on the "group's rights" by disregarding their safety, then that individual gives up their group "rights", i.e. a drivers license issued by the group.


Ahhh....sheep, alot more sheep than wolves out there, wonder why that is?
I guess wolves just aren't that smart, then again I guess it would come down to what you consider "smart".
"I would rather live one day as a wolf than a lifetime as a sheep", and this, of course, is why there are more sheep than wolves, lol.


While it is popular to compare human group behavior to "sheep" following a leader blindly to their ultimate destruction, this has never been the case in large groups.
Through out history there have been many examples of "the sheep" following a leader down the drain, but some of "the sheep" always survive, never the leader.

The Bible even comments on this in the passage, "the meek shall inherit the earth", Matthew 5:5
Whether you are religious or not the comment is almost 2,000 years old so even then this was a known part of human behavior.

And a "New World Order" can't exist, at least if humans are involved.
Problem is the kind of people(wolves) that would pursue that kind of power wouldn't be the kind of people that would want to share it.
To stick within the metaphor, there is only ONE alpha male in a group, public or secret.
The others in a group like this would find anyway possible way to take the place of the alpha male, that is their nature, the reason they are in the group, they literally can not help themselves, lol, the power is the whole point.
So power conspiracies tend to be very short lived.
Money conspiracies can last longer but are still doomed to failure because of another human trait, greed.

 

[adsm08]

While it is popular to compare human group behavior to "sheep" following a leader blindly to their ultimate destruction, this has never been the case in large groups.

Ah, but never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

 

[6.2]

I hope this never becomes a mass used thing in my lifetime.

 

[RonD]

Yes, if some one makes something "fool proof" then a better fool is needed, and "we" have always been able to supply that, and usually in a larger quantity than needed, lol.

Automated cars won't stop 'stupid'

 

[txgocartB3000]

And that is why we have Alex Jones.

The pot always needs stirring.

Ray

 

[Nic]

I think that's a terrible idea. Our human brains have a response to danger that no machine could reproduce. And unlike a drone, this thing could be right next to you in traffic. And what happens if the computer has a glitch, people die. I think it's scary