Uber's self-driving Volvo cars

[Matias]

Not as tall as in this picture:

I think garage doors come in either 7' for 8' high so may be they fit Uber after all.

 

[GSP]

so when the human is deemed no longer necessary, what happens when a pedestrian steps off the sidewalk.

does the car swerve into the next lane to avoid the pedestrian and cause an an adjacent vehicle to swerve into oncoming traffic into a fatal rta? or does it just kill the pedestrian because it can't know the consequence of swerving out of lane.

I will take some convincing away from Autonomous == Folly on the public street.

Why is this so hard?

Almost any driver will brake as quickly as possible if a pedestrian steps out in front of them, but that is it. Mario Andretti would also try to steer at the same time, but not 99% of drivers. If someone steps out in front of traffic such that even an emergency brake apply will not save them, no one is going to expect more from the driver. Autonomous cars can emergency brake quicker and harder than human drivers, so they will be safer, without any programming "dilemmas."

GSP

 

[thegruf]

Why is this so hard?

simple. Because the manufacturer will get sued whichever decision the car makes.

Ulimately standards bodies will have to define required car autonomous behaviour, and test cars to be in compliance.

Only this way can the manufacturer absolve themselves of liability by demonstrating that the vehicle acted in a predictable way according to defined standards.

Additionally I anticipate that manufacturers will be required to log selected critical data to an independent 3rd party or at least a separate on-board logger for analysis.

I don't doubt for one second that Tesla's reports from their logs are 100% accurate following accidents, but it is necessary to acknowledge that data which is entirely within the manufacturers control and *could* be open to abuse by less than scrupulous manufacturers no matter size. VW's disgusting behaviour of course comes to mind when mentioning falsifying data.

 

[SwTslaGrl]

It was mentioned again today, and also a BEV 2019,
"To help share some of the costs, Volvo in August teamed up with ride hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. in a $300 million pact to develop fully autonomous cars ready for the road by 2021. Its first all-electric model is set to hit showrooms in 2019, in line with other carmakers like Mercedes-Benz’s EQ coupe-style SUV."
Luxury Volvo Comes With Built-In Fridge and Crystal Glasses