Ford announces fully autonomous vehicle by 2021

[simon varley]

must confess I didn't see that one coming. awesome news.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/...mous-cars-2021

[BENT_8]

Meet George Jetson, His boy Elroy.....

No thanks, i like to drive.

[simon varley]

agreed. but there's certainly a market for this in the CBDs

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by simon varley

agreed. but there's certainly a market for this in the CBDs

Goodbye Taxis

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by Wretched

Goodbye Taxis

Not necessarily. Theres still people who wont own cars, people who use taxis due to lack of parking spaces, people drinking on a night out.

I'm sure the 'driver' would still need to be sober and licensed etc to be behind the wheel.

Personally, as someone who does enjoy driving I still could do without having to drive to work and back around a 2.5 hour return trip so I'd love it for this reason.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Not necessarily. Theres still people who wont own cars, people who use taxis due to lack of parking spaces, people drinking on a night out.

I'm sure the 'driver' would still need to be sober and licensed etc to be behind the wheel.

Personally, as someone who does enjoy driving I still could do without having to drive to work and back around a 2.5 hour return trip so I'd love it for this reason.

True, but my interpretation of the article is that Ford are aiming to rival Uber, with automated cars essentially, therefore another player in the taxi/uber battle. During business hours in Melbourne CBD, I think this would be an ideal solution, short trips here and there where PT doesn't apply. The car would ideally know where to go too without the passenger having to direct it.

[malazn mafia]

And imagine if they named it Falcon with Autopilot ...

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by Wretched

True, but my interpretation of the article is that Ford are aiming to rival Uber, with automated cars essentially, therefore another player in the taxi/uber battle. During business hours in Melbourne CBD, I think this would be an ideal solution, short trips here and there where PT doesn't apply. The car would ideally know where to go too without the passenger having to direct it.

On short trips it would be cool if the car could drop you off then go back home by itself and come back later to pick you up. Saves on parking and door dents in carparks!

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Wretched

True, but my interpretation of the article is that Ford are aiming to rival Uber,

The first paragraph of the article..........

"Ford Motor Co plans to offer a fully automated driverless vehicle to commercial ride sharing fleets such as Uber in 2021, "

[simon varley]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

I'm sure the 'driver' would still need to be sober and licensed etc to be behind the wheel.

maybe not. if it's fully autonomous and doesn't even have a steering wheel there's nothing the driver can do anyway. Would need a legislation change here I'm sure but just imagine - no designated driver!

[MrEL]

Jimmy Cab from Total Recall.

[mik]

Awesome in one way, scary as hell in another .
If they can pull off the successful fully autonomous vehicle, I reckon it will open up a whole new market, think of the oldies that still have their marbles but are to scared to drive themselves, people with disabilities, this will be a good thing.
It probably opens up a can of worms though, you can see people abusing the system.
"Okay car" ....... "take kids to school and return",
"okay car" ..... " go to the bottle shop and get me beer and return".
Just joking, but humans are good at finding ways to abuse the system, interesting times ahead.

[The Snout]

Originally Posted by mik

Awesome in one way, scary as hell in another .
If they can pull off the successful fully autonomous vehicle, I reckon it will open up a whole new market, think of the oldies that still have their marbles but are to scared to drive themselves, people with disabilities, this will be a good thing.
It probably opens up a can of worms though, you can see people abusing the system.
"Okay car" ....... "take kids to school and return",
"okay car" ..... " go to the bottle shop and get me beer and return".
Just joking, but humans are good at finding ways to abuse the system, interesting times ahead.

Yeah it's coming whether it's 2021 or 2051. 100+ years ago people said why give up my good loyal horse for one of those automobiles that breaks down all the time. There's no definitive transport era, just the era we live in at the time.

And like any advancement in society there will be a certain amount of responsibility on the user not to abuse it. Will be up to future generations to figure out that stuff as it crops up.

Cheap autonomous transport that the oldies/disabilities can order up to get around, there will be a time when they'll say how did they cope without it.

[Junkyard-Dog]

I'm amazed by the technology but I can see why so many are apprehensive. How long will it take before somebody hacks it and tells a car full of people to veer into a semi-trailer?

If there is one thing I'm sure of it's this: humans will never cease finding new and terrible ways to kill one another.

[cheap]

Bring it on!

What's the bet that assertive drivers will scare the crap out of these drones, the drones will go into a passive avoidance mode, pulling over idling by the side of the road whilst their occupants are safe and late watching the world pass them by.

[[THOMMO]]

Originally Posted by Junkyard-Dog

I'm amazed by the technology but I can see why so many are apprehensive. How long will it take before somebody hacks it and tells a car full of people to veer into a semi-trailer?

If there is one thing I'm sure of it's this: humans will never cease finding new and terrible ways to kill one another.

its already happened they hacked the jeep twice to make a point and they had to recall 1.4million cars.

I think we could be running full automation now BUT the issue is not everyone would have it and therefore create risk. If there was the ability to make everyone convert to automated it would make it safer

It's just a computer that knows maths and has a GPS

[simon varley]

I think the trick is going to be to convince everyone that autonomous cars aren't 100% safe, but that they are 100x safer than human driven cars

[Blue Shadow]

That will be great for a Sunday cruise. Me, i'd rather steer and speed up or brake myself

[CyberWasp]

I can't wait to get one and have it making money for me, driving people around on busy Saturday night in the city.
Then I can spend Sundays cleaning all sorts of stains, (most of them unknown to science) from the interior.
Where do I sign up?

[Crazy Dazz]

What a pile of horse****.

Nair also said Ford, unlike many of its competitors, has no plans to offer highly automated, but incremental systems that would still require drivers to take the wheel.

Translates as:
We're miles behind everyone else on driver-assistance technologies, and no plans on how we're going to catch up, so I'm just sprouting a bunch of crap to cover that up and pretend we're not techno-dinosaurs.

You've also got to remember that EVERYTHING in the USA is driven by lawsuits, so this is never going to happen. The liability issues are too horrendous to contemplate.

[Crazy Dazz]

In fact, knowing Ford, "Autonomous" probably just means chaining a Mexican to the steering wheel.

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

In fact, knowing Ford, "Autonomous" probably just means chaining a Mexican to the steering wheel.

No it will have to be a Canadian.

Donald is building a wall.
Actually I think it might be Pablo doing the building?

[GTMOND]

Hmm one word describes autonomous vehicle BORING.

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by simon varley

must confess I didn't see that one coming. awesome news.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/...mous-cars-2021

And GM have "the Bolt"

Imagine having to listen to his political rants on your trips between pubs.
And I thought Somalian drivers who don't speak a word of Engrish were painful.

[reds89]

computers crash,vehicle computers go ga ga when they detect problems especially low volts,jumbo jets and the like have back up computers and still fall out the sky,i think for me personally i wouldnt like the idea of sitting in a car driven around by nothing but a computer of some sort,like somebody said,hackers could have a field day if that way inclined.

[mik]

The main doubt that is in my mind with the current batch of cars with some auto drive function is i still have my doubts they get enough road information to be fully Autonomous .
How would it be if every single car had its own little beacon that sends a signal out to every other vehicle in the immediate area X amount of distance somewhat like aircraft , and the car also receives some form of signal from sensors in the road telling the car precisely where it is on the road .
I dont think this would be too hard to do, and it might open up a whole new series of industries .
Imagine if all those cateye reflectors on the road had small blue tooth module or something similar or an infra red beam or something every x amount of distance to communicate with vehicles , it would be an extra form of Autonomous redundancy .......... or am i up the fairies again .

[mik]

Originally Posted by mik

The main doubt that is in my mind with the current batch of cars with some auto drive function is i still have my doubts they get enough road information to be fully Autonomous .
How would it be if every single car had its own little beacon that sends a signal out to every other vehicle in the immediate area X amount of distance somewhat like aircraft , and the car also receives some form of signal from sensors in the road telling the car precisely where it is on the road .
I dont think this would be too hard to do, and it might open up a whole new series of industries .
Imagine if all those cateye reflectors on the road had small blue tooth module or something similar or an infra red beam or something every x amount of distance to communicate with vehicles , it would be an extra form of Autonomous redundancy .......... or am i up the fairies again .

( Hmmm.........that should have read up with the fairys again ) Note to self ...dont type when tired .

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by mik

( Hmmm.........that should have read up with the fairys again ) Note to self ...dont type when tired .

Just noticed that.

The fairy appreciation society will blacklist you.

Good one Mik!

[EB#]

Given that car manufactures are driven by profit ahead of reliability how will an autonomous car stack up at the end of the day? Ford, for example, have difficulty getting an automatic transmission right ffs.

[mik]

Originally Posted by EB#

Given that car manufactures are driven by profit ahead of reliability how will an autonomous car stack up at the end of the day? Ford, for example, have difficulty getting an automatic transmission right ffs.

Good question Mate , down the track i suspect if and when they get it sorted , they might develop the autonomous electronics as a simple package , much like these days auto manufacturers when putting a car together just put their order into Bosch for and abs safety system , imo they will get it down to a simple bunch of standardized components which will reduce the cost .......eventually , and it will probably be as failsafe as abs brakes ................... eventually ..................... one day .