Sci/Tech Google's self-guided car could drive the next wave of unemployment

[tom_mai78101]

Almost without noticing it, our world crossed a significant threshold last week. Jerry Brown, the governor of California, signed into law a bill that will allow driverless cars on to his state's roads from 2015. Insofar as most people noticed this event at all, they probably sniffed derisively. For some, it'll be seen as an example of techno-hubris – "flags on the moon stuff" – as one of my acquaintances put it. For others, it will be seen as yet another confirmation of the proposition that the continental United States slopes gently from east to west, with the result that everything with a screw loose rolls into California.

Governor Brown signed the bill at Google's HQ in Mountain View. This was good PR on his part, but it also made sense because Google has led the charge into autonomous (aka driverless) vehicles. For several years, Toyota Prius hybrids that have been specially adapted by the company's engineers have been driving the roads of California. To date, they have logged 300,000 miles with only one accident – caused by a human-controlled car that ran into one of them. And they have now logged 50,000 miles without a human having to take the wheel.

At the ceremony in Mountain View, Google's co-founder, Sergey Brin, announced the company's intention to bring autonomous vehicles to the market in five years. In a pre-emptive attack on critics, he pointed out that autonomous vehicles would be significantly safer than human-controlled ones. That seems plausible to me: 40,000 people are killed every year in road accidents in the US and many, if not most, of those are caused by human error. "This has the power to change lives," Brin said. "Too many people are underserved by the current transport system. They are blind, or too young to drive, or too old, or intoxicated." He also argued that manual operation of cars was inefficient: autonomous vehicles could make better use of the road and reduce the size of car parks by fitting into smaller areas than humans could get them into.

Google's self-guided car could drive the next wave of unemployment

Advances such as the driverless car are no longer the stuff of sci-fi. They could soon make many human skills worthless in the job market, says John Naughton

www.guardian.co.uk

 

[Accname]

Sounds both interesting and terrifying.
I like the idea of living in the times when science fiction becomes science reality.
But something inside of me doesnt like the idea of letting a computer decide my fate.

 

[camelCase]

No more loud and obnoxious cabbies?
Yes, please!

 

[FireCat]

I've seen it all before, and Still not impressed.

with only one accident – caused by a human-controlled car that ran into one of them.

That's Just bullshit

 

[Accname]

The only questions i have are:
1). How much more are these going to cost?
2). How much faster are they going to break apart?

Electronics and computers are fragile, much more fragile then simple mechanics in the "old" cars.
My mom had an old car some years ago which she drove for 13 years. Thats a long long time.
Her new car, with all those fancy electronics and computers and stuff, only lasted for about 3 years and then it got all kinds of issues. One of the door-locks didnt work correctly anymore.
The computer was giving wrong information about the brakes, it always said the brakes are damaged although they were brand new.
It had some weird issues with the automatic transmission, one gear didnt work anymore.
Etc, etc.

Just imagine how much trouble you are going to have with all those additional hardware and software. It will be like an annual trip to the garage.

 

[tom_mai78101]

The only questions i have are:
1). How much more are these going to cost?
2). How much faster are they going to break apart?

1. Link.
2. It may require a few software technicians and a few car auto repair workers to estimate the time it takes to break apart a Google car, otherwise it's just a PC embedded into the car somewhere (in the front, in the back, or in the seats).

 

[Accname]

1. Link.
2. It may require a few software technicians and a few car auto repair workers to estimate the time it takes to break apart a Google car, otherwise it's just a PC embedded into the car somewhere (in the front, in the back, or in the seats).

I think there is a little bit more then just a pc. Somehow the car needs to "see" and "hear" things going on around it.
Many sensors are needed to fully capture everything that is going on around the car, thats some sensitive stuff.
And a car isnt like your desk. Its parked outside. In rain. In snow. In the summer heat. It could be hit by something in an accident.
Computer stuff can be broken easily, and its expensive.

 

[FireCat]

^ QFT

 

[Siretu]

I've seen it all before, and Still not impressed.
That's Just bullshit

Can you elaborate on that? Do you think it's more likely that a computer with close to perfect information and super fast reaction times was the one at fault? To me, it just seems reasonable that after driving these cars for so long, there's bound to be another car(driven by a human) that does something wrong.

 

[FireCat]

Can you elaborate on that? Do you think it's more likely that a computer with close to perfect information and super fast reaction times was the one at fault?.

Yes and why not?

Hmm This is a pretty interesting article

Google's self-driving wreck: Really human error?

Google's famed self-driving Prius is involved in a fender bender. The company insists a human was driving, but doesn't declare that this was human error. So what might really have happened?

When a self-driving car crashes, one just has to wonder about those robots. Are they really all they're cracked up to be? Or might they be just as cracked as the rest of us? Should you have, this morning, been unreasonably detained by aggressive machines, may I tell you that Google's famed, futuristic, liberating, and ultimately superhuman machine, the self-driving Prius, was involved in a fender bender. What seems evident from shots of the scene is that Google's robot machine ran into the back of another Prius. You might think that it was on robotic autopilot and this was some sort of mating ritual.

Read Moar Here.

Like you see there's still some doubt about the accident. And isn't it strange they don't really want to tell what really happened. eh?

 

[camelCase]

Biased

 

[Varine]

And poorly written.

 

[Slapshot136]

Just imagine how much trouble you are going to have with all those additional hardware and software. It will be like an annual trip to the garage.

honestly, I doubt the computer hardware/software will have issues - it would all consist of non-moving parts, which tend not to get damaged - most computers start having issues when the temperature reaches around 100º C, which is way hotter than what a car will reach during the summer, and won't have any extra issues with the cold either - and that is for regular home computers, industrial computers have much more rigorous standards. the software would need to be fairly modular and well-written, but that isn't impossible to do either, and can have plenty of self-checks

 

[Varine]

And they can afford liquid helium cooling anyway.

 

[tom_mai78101]

And they can afford liquid helium cooling anyway.

That would be much much much more special than any concept cars combined.

 

[Slapshot136]

And they can afford liquid helium cooling anyway.

the cost of a car is around 20k, an extra $500 can get a pretty decent computer, + another $500 for sensors, and you have a 1k upgrade - about as much as an extra inch on the wheels would cost?

the programming would probably be sponsored by governments who want to see more efficient traffic on roads, less accidents, less need for police patrols, etc.

 

[Accname]

the cost of a car is around 20k, an extra $500 can get a pretty decent computer, + another $500 for sensors, and you have a 1k upgrade - about as much as an extra inch on the wheels would cost?

the programming would probably be sponsored by governments who want to see more efficient traffic on roads, less accidents, less need for police patrols, etc.

In the article it says the cars cost about $300000.

[...]
the massive array of sensors Google has to install in its cars alone costs $250,000 or more.

[...]​

Have a look at that sensor on top of the car and tell me there is no way it could get damaged within a year of use:

And with that price, you dont want anything to happen.

 

[tom_mai78101]

No wonder! The car itself is categorized as a concept car.

 

[KaerfNomekop]

And they can afford liquid helium cooling anyway.

I thought we were running out of helium :/

 

[FireCat]

"BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH" In the Middle of the Highway. Just saying