Ready for a self driving car?

[bigsky]

From The Free Press:

Are we ready for self-driving cars? Mike Johns certainly wasn’t. The Los Angeles tech entrepreneur hitched a ride to the airport last month with a self-operating Waymo taxi, according to a new report. But the vehicle went berserk, spinning around in circles until a frantic Johns called for help. A representative from Waymo was eventually able to remotely take control of the car and free Johns, who just managed to catch his flight. “It felt like a scene in a sci-fi thriller,” he wrote on LinkedIn. Johns later complained that the customer service department was less than sympathetic. But then. . . Waymo customer service is also automated.

[dan_bgblue]

No

[PedroDaGr8]

From The Free Press:

Are we ready for self-driving cars? Mike Johns certainly wasn’t. The Los Angeles tech entrepreneur hitched a ride to the airport last month with a self-operating Waymo taxi, according to a new report. But the vehicle went berserk, spinning around in circles until a frantic Johns called for help. A representative from Waymo was eventually able to remotely take control of the car and free Johns, who just managed to catch his flight. “It felt like a scene in a sci-fi thriller,” he wrote on LinkedIn. Johns later complained that the customer service department was less than sympathetic. But then. . . Waymo customer service is also automated.

There are six different levels of self-driving cars which range from Level 0 (zero automation) to Level 5 (100% full automation of driving/routing/etc. with zero driver input required). Waymo is developing a Level 4 system with the end-goal being to develop a level 5 system (which is decades and decades off, if not nigh impossible to achieve with high reliability due to humans being high unpredictable).

For context, what most people are familiar with is either Level 1 (lane-assist cruise control) or Level 2 (Tesla, Ford, Chevy, etc.) which can handle minor navigation like taking turns or passing cars on the freeway but require the driver to be fully engaged with the vehicle at all times. There is no fully-approved Level 3 or higher self-driving in the USA. Audi is the only manufacturer with approved Level 3 but it is Europe only.

I have Level 2 self-driving in my car and it is nice to have on busy interstates and long drives but isn't a must have.

[Darrell KSR]

Pedro, have you seen comma.ai and openpilot?

Unless things change, my next car will have that as an add-on. It's at least Level 2, but may be a little more than that. You drive hands-free with this, makes turns, starts and stops, etc. Very reasonable cost and easy to install.

[dan_bgblue]

Do you want to take airplane flights with no human pilot in the cockpit?

[PedroDaGr8]

Pedro, have you seen comma.ai and openpilot?

Unless things change, my next car will have that as an add-on. It's at least Level 2, but may be a little more than that. You drive hands-free with this, makes turns, starts and stops, etc. Very reasonable cost and easy to install.

Being a proponent of open source over closed source, they are something I am quite interested in and they seem promising but I have yet to encounter anyone who has done a full install of them yet (which worries me a bit).

Do you want to take airplane flights with no human pilot in the cockpit?

This is why I think true Level 5 may be nigh impossible. According to a number of pilots I know, modern planes are capable of handling pretty much everything on their own...until they aren't. They said for the most part (99+% of the time) they really don't need to be there and the plane could handle everything but knowing when and how to step-in are a critical factor still.

[dan_bgblue]

Delta CEO reveals when we could see air taxis in the sky

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