Comments on: Ford is ready for the autonomous car. Are drivers?

By: sorter

sorter — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:03:42 +0000

So what does the car do when a squirrel jumps in front of it? How ’bout a piece of a truck tire or a large leaf?
Can it know it’s OK and safer for everyone to run over the leaf? Tough luck for the squirrel?

By: Nathan Blacka

Nathan Blacka — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:15:28 +0000

I think this is a horrible idea. What happens when you hear the word “virus” or talk about your computer freezing? What if the huge network that is controlling the cars gets a virus or crashes? Automakers say the most unpredictable aspect in a car is the driver, but the driver is the one that saves the day. Can you really trust a computer when everyday people experience tech problems and frustrations? What about IRobot? That movie doesn’t really suggest that computers are the best thing for this world.

By: Deano

Deano — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:45:25 +0000

While all of this is very interesting, I think we all have forgotten what fun it is to drive a car “cruising”.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:15:02 +0000

That is just plain stupidity, that woman should have never even been behind the wheel if thats how her mind set of thinking is.

By: Jeff Leeper

Jeff Leeper — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:46:37 +0000

IF nothing else this would eliminate people using brakes on the highway.

By: Doug Alexander

Doug Alexander — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:35:48 +0000

At least one consumer is ready. A woman crashed her brand-new RV motor home when, thinking that “cruise control” meant “auto-pilot” she engaged it and then got up and went back to the kitchenette to make herself a sandwich.

By: Derek Kerton

Derek Kerton — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:33:23 +0000

Mark,

The existing experiments reveal that it is precisely “in the event of an emergency” that the human should be REMOVED from the equation. The speed, accuracy, and precision of electronics far exceeds what the average human can offer.

It’s not hard to see that emergency handling and avoidance is the FIRST place that some automotive autonomy has emerged in production vehicles. ESC, Anti-lock braking, auto airbag deployment, blind-spot sensors, adaptive cruise, emergency braking, Super-handling All-wheel-drive. The machines are ALREADY taking over “in the event of an emergency”.

Perhaps what you meant was the human would take control in case of a system failure? That makes more sense.

By: cathy wu

cathy wu — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:54:23 +0000

Very interesting point that “inter-networking vehicles with one another and other transportation networks” in a way nulls and void the autonomy of autonomous cars, and that they will merely be automatic.

First, I’m not sure that we want full autonomy in our autonomus cars anyway. We simply want to get to where we want to go, and that is achieved through networked communication and intelligent path planning, not through autonomy.

But even more interesting, it seems that it is the driver who is more autonomous in the autonomous car. We will be freed of the time we spend guiding the wheel and the gas pedal!

By: WhoElse

WhoElse — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:49:11 +0000

A fewer driver vehicle is called a bus or a train. Better public transportation is more cost efficient for all.

By: samabuelsamid

samabuelsamid — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:20:42 +0000

Actually Scott, I don’t think that Ford is missing the point about car sharing at all. Ford has been involved with ZipCar for some time http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=35138

The technology highlighted in this article is a stepping stone towards more fully autonomous vehicles that could be used by services like ZipCar in the coming years. Utilizing the technology in more limited ways today allows the engineers to proved the reliability, drive down the cost and take the time to develop robust control systems.