where cars will drive themselves. cars will have dozens of sensors, and internal computer systems will use this information to safely navigate the car to its destination. rather than sit in traffic an hour a day, i'll just sit back and watch some tv, read a book/internet, or chat with my family. cars will be able to wirelessly communicate with other vehicles, and coordinate traffic flows in such a way that travel times will be significantly reduced.

you won't need to buy your own car anymore. transportation will be dominated by ubiquitous, small, energy-efficient taxi vehicles, only much cheaper than today's cabs. Without the burden of a human driver, fares will only cost slightly more than the cost of fuel.

the first society to make this a reality will reap significant economic benefits. i'm hoping it's USA#1. research is taking place right now to enable this sort of technology, though largely in academic and military circles. Within the next 5-10 years, I hope to transition my career to pursuing this vision.

thank you for your consideration

9/27/2010 2:01:47 PM

wait...shawna?

9/27/2010 2:03:36 PM

Have fun in Soviet Russia

9/27/2010 2:07:12 PM

'dozens of sensors'

9/27/2010 2:07:46 PM

i don't like that this is still in PP

9/27/2010 2:09:11 PM

Some of us enjoy driving.

9/27/2010 2:09:26 PM

^^ it's not...it's 'in' chit chat...but it'll disappear from PP once someone posts something there

9/27/2010 2:11:19 PM

I believe in a past

Where you posted this in the wrong section

9/27/2010 2:11:39 PM

Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

9/27/2010 2:12:39 PM

it wasn't the wrong section. i already made a CC post this hour so i had to invoke mod pwrs

[Edited on September 27, 2010 at 2:13 PM. Reason : i was actually tempted to just leave it in there though. access to my thoughts is a premie feature]

9/27/2010 2:12:54 PM

This doesn't sound like a future that I want to be a part of.

9/27/2010 2:13:34 PM

You son of a bitch

9/27/2010 2:13:54 PM

NC State has actually done some good research in this area, i might add

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/25/nc-states-computer-vision-software-promises-improved-self-drivi/

9/27/2010 2:15:44 PM

rather than selling cars, auto makers will transition to providing transportation as a service (taxis). instead of kicking our economy in the shins by trying to convince people to buy new cars they don't need, they'll focus again on providing THEMSELVES with high quality, long-term sustainable vehicle designs so that they can maximize the longevity of their own vehicle fleet

9/27/2010 2:21:01 PM

double post, suspend

9/27/2010 2:21:41 PM

tens of thousands of Americans die every year from largely human-caused traffic accidents

though the self-driving vehicles won't be perfect at first and a lot of people will initially reject them, they will rapidly improve, and as they are embraced (at first for their economic benefits), safety will also rapidly improve on our roadways

9/27/2010 2:22:41 PM

I would be ok with these robot death machines, as long as they have their own roads or hover above MY roads and stay the fuck out my way!

[Edited on September 27, 2010 at 2:23 PM. Reason : wn]

9/27/2010 2:23:05 PM

I'ma go marko for a minute

9/27/2010 2:24:41 PM

transportation of goods across the country takes place significantly via semi trucks.

though many people will lose their jobs, the economic advantages of not having to pay people to sit in a truck their entire life will be unavoidable, and these companies will adopt self-driving systems as soon as safely possible. cost of transportation of goods will decrease, which will decrease the cost of goods that we pay, across the board.

9/27/2010 2:25:26 PM

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90042092

the moslems are one step ahead

9/27/2010 2:28:22 PM

9/27/2010 2:30:09 PM

9/27/2010 2:31:06 PM

I, too, believe in a future

9/27/2010 3:10:24 PM

Who is going to pay for fixes to these cars, the mechanics,and replacement parts for an aging country-sized automated transportation system?

When the computers goes down because of power failure, faulty equipment, or human error, how will people get to work?

Thunderstorms, earthquakes, landslides, sinkholes, floods, tornadoes will all fuck the system up. Wars, bombs, terrorists, hostage/hijacking will interrupt flow.

Too many cars to monitor. Must have a huge call center with enough units to respond.

9/27/2010 3:30:12 PM

Quote :

"FIXES TO CARS"

9/27/2010 3:31:30 PM

Response after reading only the OP:

I don't believe that they would make it that much cheaper than a cab is now- that way, being slightly cheaper, you would be more inclined to ride in it, but the amount going to the "owner" would still be large

also, I'm sure maintenance would be a lot more than a normal town car or crown vick

9/27/2010 3:36:01 PM

Small, computer-controlled transportation pods would be wonderful. Too bad the infrastructure investment would be massive and people seem to hate it when the government does anything that costs money.

9/27/2010 3:46:46 PM

existing cars are already heavily computerized. self-driving cars just takes that to the next level with more sensors combined with the computing power sufficient to process it in real-time. failure of mechanical components is still a larger maintenance cost than software maintenance

^ clearly you can't scrap existing road systems to make way for a new generation. self-driving cars would have to be able to operate on the same roads as regular cars, at least until self-driving cars gain critical mass to the point where infrastructure investments specific to self-driving cars makes more sense, which could take a decade or a few

[Edited on September 27, 2010 at 3:48 PM. Reason : .]

9/27/2010 3:47:00 PM

Any "serious" topic like this with no capitalization can't be taken seriously

9/27/2010 3:48:27 PM

for the gubment to allow something like this, they would require that the sensors, systems, and everything possibly testable be tested are ridiculously short and consistent intervals

9/27/2010 3:50:42 PM

hey guy they did this in time cop

9/27/2010 3:53:12 PM

interesting point you raise, sir


duly noted

9/27/2010 3:54:21 PM

i steal all my life ambitions from crappy movies

9/27/2010 3:54:23 PM

the guy at circuit city in charlotte gave it to me for free when I was in highschool because he felt bad that I would have actually wanted to have paid for it (he made me pay for the other 2 dvd's I brought up, but gave me demo. man for free)

9/27/2010 3:56:48 PM

after i invent self-driving cars i'm going to invent the three-boobed space chick

9/27/2010 3:57:42 PM

i'd be interested in hearing Shadowrunner's thoughts on this subject

9/27/2010 4:01:21 PM

what about nascar?

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

9/27/2010 4:16:18 PM

http://www.facebook.com/BMW.Project.i

9/28/2010 12:57:43 AM

Didn't people predict this to happen by 2010 or 2020 or so?

What you have described in your OP is totally doable, but it will take a lot of time. Research on autonomous vehicles is well under way in a lot of universities and car companies (and gov agencies), but it is in its infancy because it is a very difficult problem to solve.

I expect such a system to be in place, in limited areas, around 2075 AD. When do you predict?

And if you want the same system, but with flying cars (ala The 5th Element), give it till 2150 at the very least.

Quote :

" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90042092 the moslems infidels are one step ahead in a moslem land"

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 7:14 AM. Reason : ]

9/28/2010 6:57:26 AM

united states' roads will never be 100% full of the cars you speak of. sure, we might have some, maybe even alot of them around in the distant future. but the automobile as we know it is far too inter-woven into american culture to ever be totally done away with.

9/28/2010 8:06:21 AM

No more traffic tickets.. more time for eating donuts..

9/28/2010 8:50:33 AM

I can be done with just 2 high-res cameras and some microphones, but for safety, they’ll throw in more for redundancy.

9/28/2010 8:58:45 AM

i hate driving. this needs to happen asap.

9/28/2010 9:24:23 AM

Quote :

" DOZENS OF SENSORS "

9/28/2010 9:35:40 AM

Quote :

" I can be done with just 2 high-res cameras and some microphones,"

Sounds kinky.

9/28/2010 9:40:14 AM

in those autonomous vehicle challenges sponsored by industry and government where top research universities compete it seems like most of the entries fail to complete even the most basic scenarios

i think we're a long way from this being commonplace

9/28/2010 9:44:01 AM

the DARPA challenges have a more difficult requirement set, as it's designed to operate in typical military environments. and even then, the progress from year to year is amazing

creating a vehicle appropriate for urban environments is much simpler. still challenging, but certainly easier. technology isn't the hurdle so much as agreeing on sufficient safety regulations, as well as local city governments supporting these initiatives. i think we'll see first models on the roads in 10 years, and then commonly on the road within 10 years after that

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 10:23 AM. Reason : .]

9/28/2010 10:22:03 AM

An automated vehicle that can follow yellow lines, stop at traffic lights and keep a safe distance from the car ahead of it - sure that's easy.

An automated vehicle that can safely interact with a heavy-flow of human-driven vehicles? I highly doubt that's going to be achieved in my lifetime.

I'll change my mind if they can design a car that can merge and navigate heavy-traffic without driver input.

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 11:38 AM. Reason : stick nuts]

9/28/2010 11:37:58 AM

Sorry, qntmfred.

Quote :

"WORST IDEA EVER"

Quote :

"Some of us enjoy driving."

Exactly.
Also,
Some of us enjoy freedom.
Some of us enjoy personal autonomy.
Some of us enjoy decentralized society.
Some of us enjoy a life with a purpose, complete with danger and uncertainty.

What earth needs is fewer untalented people, not more. The more that die because they suck, the better. Even a couple innocent (non-responsible) lives lost from occasional harms from acceptable dangers is far better than your almost evil idea involving destruction of natural liberty, contributing to over-population and as mentioned, the dumbing of society.

You go find your own planet for weak lazy people to go and not have to do anything, or even think for themselves.

Real people choose liberty and danger over authority and safety. (Stop dreaming and get a clue.)

Quote :

"tens of thousands of Americans die every year from largely human-caused traffic accidents"

Great. The large majority are responsible for the accidents. They earned it -- they killed themselves, which is fine. The small minority of innocent people that die from this? Acceptable, as long as the majority of personal-liberty-danger-related-deaths are from those that are responsible for the deaths. Weak, stupid, and/or untalented people <<<<<<<<<< strong, smart and/or talented people. Survival of the fittest >>>>>>>>>> *

Quote :

"Have fun in Soviet Russia"

Quote :

"This doesn't sound like a future that I want to be a part of."

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 2:30 PM. Reason : ]

9/28/2010 2:14:59 PM

Quote :

"hey guy they did this in time cop minority report"

Quote :

"hey guy they did this in time cop the fifth element"

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 2:53 PM. Reason : .]

9/28/2010 2:51:45 PM