I think the point was, if the legislation is so conservative that it will not allow cameras in place of mirrors, then there's zero change of something like fully autonomous, unescorted driving anytime soon. Another example would be laser headlights, legal in most places, but not the US...
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I think the point was, if the legislation is so conservative that it will not allow cameras in place of mirrors, then there's zero change of something like fully autonomous, unescorted driving anytime soon. Another example would be laser headlights, legal in most places, but not the US...
*Imagine sitting in your car, filled with other survivors, on the way out of town to escape an impending hurricane. Traffic flowing smoothly as it is being controlled by an efficient algorithm making choices to ensure that the most possible routes are chosen and the most people make it to safety. You notice swarms of brand new driverless vehicles leaving dealership lots, full of survivors (cars pick up people when they aren't full) and driving down roadways to safety that are fully charged as they all prepared ahead of time due to their continuous connection to weather data. Your dream of autonomous cars making the world a safer place for all coming true before your eyes*
Quietninja22
Member
vitaliy
Member
While I have a pretty healthy amount of skepticism about this announcement (at least given the timeframe offered), I will play along. One great use for this? One way road-trips. We all know getting there is half the fun. Being there is the other half, or something like that. Coming home.. not much of the fun. So, yeah, plan a great road trip, enjoy yourself, then fly home and summon your car.
vitaliy
Member
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
That's the most ridiculous thing Elon has ever said.
Here, let me correct -- summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders provided laws allow, map data is complete, you are staying almost exclusively on highways, the snake charger has been rolled out over the entire route, the AP system has been programmed to handle navigating all of the supercharger parking lots and local traffic areas, roads are clearly marked over the entire route, there is no snow or rain obscuring lane markings, and, more generally speaking, the car never once hits a scenario where it would want the driver to take over.
That said, go for it. Just make sure it's a goal and not a promise.
Here, let me correct -- summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders provided laws allow, map data is complete, you are staying almost exclusively on highways, the snake charger has been rolled out over the entire route, the AP system has been programmed to handle navigating all of the supercharger parking lots and local traffic areas, roads are clearly marked over the entire route, there is no snow or rain obscuring lane markings, and, more generally speaking, the car never once hits a scenario where it would want the driver to take over.
That said, go for it. Just make sure it's a goal and not a promise.
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Gizmotoy
Active Member
Skip a forward a few hours and all the electric cars fleeing the emergency zone clog the charging infrastructure with huge lines as they need to charge. Some kind of orderly, autonomous evacuation mode would be pretty sweet, though. No chance of seeing that in our lifetimes, I suspect. One manually-driven car would clog the whole thing up and good luck banning manual cars from the road anytime soon.
With my luck the thing would get tripped up by a curb or something a parking lot on the other side of the country and send me a notification to come rescue it. :-/
No, pretty sure that'd be building a rocket that can land itself vertically after delivering payload to orbit, built by a privately-funded startup company within 15 years of its inception.
Oh, right, he already did this significantly harder task.
I don't see why it's ridiculous, Google (a company with a teensy tiny bit of the ultra high resolution mapping that Tesla has) already has a car that is statistically getting into far less accidents than human drivers in city environments, while simultaneously still causing zero accidents themselves. They already have cars without steering wheels and no way for a human to take control other than a brake button.
Look around you, technology is advancing at an incredible pace in regards to software and computing power. I'm wearing a watch that can tell me when my fire alarms need a firmware update. My own job didn't exist at all 15 years ago. I'm driving a car that couldn't exist six years ago. Why is a self-driving car ridiculous when it's been working for over a billion miles on public roads? If not for regulators and costs, you could easily have a self-driving car take you anywhere in the non-mountains California areas with ease right now, today.
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
Well, this is where I disagree. I honestly believe a truly self driving car is the harder task. I also think existing examples like the Google car are being assumed to be capable of a lot more than they really are at this time. I think people just assume it is easier than it is, because it is one of those things that is seemingly easy for a human (seemingly because it does require maturity, education, and attention), but insanely difficult for a machine. It requires extensive sensory input, a mass of knowledge, intelligent decision making, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to adapt to unknown situations.
Self driving cars may be the first true and necessary use of a true artificial intelligence, assuming we ever create such a thing.
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Actually this is not just a cool idea but a feature that will greatly expand the popularity of EV's.
Currently EV's are most suited to people who live in cities but often they will not have off-street or dedicated parking where they can charge.
This will no longer be a problem once your car can autonomously go and charge at the local quick charge station whilst you are asleep removing a major barrier to EV ownership.
Hopefully there won't be any traffic jams at 3AM.:wink:
Better yet, just have a wireless charging solution like they do for the leaf. Meet the Plugless Level 2 wireless EV charging station
Bangor Bob
Member
Apologies, it's winter here, so certain things rise to top of mind...
So when the radar is obstructed with snow, and the camera can't see through the salt on the windshield because the car ran out of washer fluid 100 miles ago, does the car call roadside assistance on it's own, or do I have to fly to wherever it is to take care of that myself? How about tolls?
I think I'd just rather use an autonomous Uber and not have to worry about what was happening to "my" car as it plied the roads without me. I really just want it to drop me off and pick me up at the door at the office, and park somewhere out of the way in between.
So when the radar is obstructed with snow, and the camera can't see through the salt on the windshield because the car ran out of washer fluid 100 miles ago, does the car call roadside assistance on it's own, or do I have to fly to wherever it is to take care of that myself? How about tolls?
I think I'd just rather use an autonomous Uber and not have to worry about what was happening to "my" car as it plied the roads without me. I really just want it to drop me off and pick me up at the door at the office, and park somewhere out of the way in between.
Yup. The most realistic use of self-parking/summoning is optimizing utilization of Superchargers. Go to dinner and don't worry about hogging the space for others. Your car will pull up, charge, disconnect and park nearby when done.
I bet we see a first snake Supercharger and demonstration of autonomous charging in 6 months.
Well, we can agree to disagree. I think starting a rocket company from scratch and in a few years reliably launching satellites into space, then taking cargo to the ISS, and then landing a used first stage right on target after just a few tries is a mind-boggling accomplishment that 15 years ago no one would have thought possible except for Musk (and he figured SpaceX would probably fail).
Creating a highly reliable autonomous car is way easier. Google has done it already. That's just a fact. Tesla will have it in a few years, and probably other car companies will as well.
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