Autonomous Vehicles NOT Ready for Prime-Time

Non-Suzuki related topics. Anything can go here.
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Ronzuki
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After yet another recent Tesla crash involving a stationary public service vehicle where the cop was quoted asking in frustration "why do these things keep doing this!?" I kinda thought it was a really good question. Sooo....

…an industry analyst at Navigant and former automotive engineer, tells Ars that it's "pretty much universal" that "vehicles are programmed to ignore stationary objects at higher speeds."
What radar is quite good at, however, is figuring out how fast objects are moving. And so a key strategy for making the technology work was to ignore anything that wasn't moving.
Designers assumed it would still be the job of the human driver to pay attention to the road and intervene if there was an obstacle directly in the roadway.
But these systems come with a major caveat: for the most part they're only designed to work at low speeds. If you try to run a car with AEB technology into a parked car at 20mph, the system is likely to intervene and prevent a collision. But if you try to do the same thing at 70mph, a lot of systems on the market won't intervene.
"If you're at lower speeds, at 30mph, and it detects a stationary object, these systems will generally respond and slow the car down and bring it to a stop.". "When closing speed is above about 50mph, if it sees a stationary car, it's going to ignore that."

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/06/wh ... -dividers/
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
WESHOOT2
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Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:37 pm
Location: Vermont

Owner just got back from a national NADA meet; A(utonomous)V(ehicle) is not favored except on the coasts.
Big sticking point (besides the obvious lack of capable and affordable technology) is who's liable. Big.
Smaller point: Stuff does NOT work in weather.


Lotsa time and money to go before we need to worry about AVs ramming us.
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Ronzuki
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Yeah, I experienced the slam the brakes on for, IMHO, no good reason and nearly getting rear ended in the new CX-5. Passing to the right of a stationary buggy making a left hand turn, as gets done hundreds of times a day around here, and WHAMMO.. full on hard brake just like in the commercials. Only problem was I was already going to clear the buggy, easy, doing about 40mph. The dude following did what we all do around here glide to the right and was following (we have fairly wide shoulders on that particular heavily buggy traveled road). Next thing I hear is tire screech and then horn. Fortunately he was able to stop. Apparently, the buggy simply didn't compute well. It computes perfectly fine for those of us traveling around them constantly. Now I have to change nearly 40 years of driving habits because of this BS I can't turn off? Yeah, that's going to be a challenge. Embrace the technology! And before anyone asks, I'd already set the EBS's sensitivity to NEAR. There is no ZERO or OFF and there should be. 25 years of passing buggies and keeping traffic flowing. Not a fan of being a slave to machinery. A bit of a Kodo misstep if ya ask me.

Other than that though....love the thing.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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Ronzuki
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WESHOOT2 wrote: Lotsa time and money to go before we need to worry about AVs ramming us.
On the contrary, lotsa time and money IS needed before we can NOT worry…quite obviously AVs are unfortunately on the roads and ramming things. Stationary things like Jersey barriers as in the video I’d posted at the beginning of this thread a long time ago, and, near stationary things like the now dead woman crossing the street in Arizona. Recently Teslas have demonstrated a propensity to start attacking public service vehicles sitting parked (stationary). We call that kind of gem an Easter Egg in the programming world (a special hidden feature no one knew about coded in that pops up out of nowhere). Unless Elon and all of these other arrogant azz-hats either go to jail or halt production/deployment and pull these woefully incapable weapons off the road, ‘things’ will continue to get rammed. Probability and Statistics 101…more improperly tested AVs or AV like systems on the road that can not function correctly…the more ramming will occur. And by proper testing, I don't mean cutting them lose on public roads to give it whirl and see how things go.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
WESHOOT2
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Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:37 pm
Location: Vermont

Rephrase: Once 'they' think AVs are ready commercially, and get them on the road thinking the technology will reallyreally work, THEN they'll be ramming us.

Because cars will always be stupid ("HAL") no matter how much tech gets used.
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Ronzuki
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AI will continue to develop to the point where civilization will see very capable AVs, I do not doubt. Hopefully, long after I'm gone. That said, hate to admit, really impressed w/ some of the tech in the CX-5. Useful, but not in total control (via disabling) which I'm also certain, soon, will not be an option. Other than the damn EBS/CAS whatever the name they give the slam the brakes on BS. Haven't experienced any of it in the rain yet and will be very interested to do some foul weather testing of these things. The backup camera I can't get used to. Learned how to drive backwards with mirrors. I can't force myself eyes and head to look DOWN at a screen. Just don't have the 'full' picture from beside me. Looking down at the screen causes me to lose focus on my whereabouts. I'd have rather had that on the back of my rock crawler. Would've been far more useful for me there.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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Ronzuki
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Well this ought to be interesting, I can hardly wait:

http://enews.phoenixcon.com/q/xRfIVpzyB ... Q4jtUfxGhP

Learn from renowned transportation experts, social scientists (WTF is that supposed to be?), and legislators here it comes...those that know less than nothing setting policy for me again on how to:
◾Gather, organize, and analyze relevant data
◾Secure your communication infrastructure uhh, yeah, an impossibility proven time and again
◾Implement smart transportation technologies in your communities At who's expense?
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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Ronzuki
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Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

The masses have NO idea what they're in for...

https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... cking-era/
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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Ronzuki
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Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

too funny...

Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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KuroNekko
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Ronzuki wrote:too funny...

That's pretty funny, but in her defense, it's likely that she borrowed the car from someone and had no idea it wasn't even a hybrid.

It reminds me of a time when I was in a Tesla showroom store years ago when they were first hitting the market. The store was in a popular mall out in Maryland or Virginia and while I was checking out the Model S, I overheard people asking reps all kinds of "stupid" questions like where is the engine, how big is the gas tank, what's the gas mileage, etc. Then I realized that most people aren't car people and electric cars are new to the consumer market. After over a hundred years of fossil fuel powered vehicles, many would be confused by technology that is unlike the status quo.

While I do like EVs, I think personally, a PHEV appeals to me the most. While some see it as a comprised vehicle stuck between conventional ICE and battery-powered electric motors, I see it like mixing of both positive attributes. It allows for short-range commuting with EV efficiency, on-site charging, and low operating costs yet allows for the flexibility and range of a gasoline car for long trips or cold weather. With an ICE onboard, cold temperatures don't have the same kind of range anxiety effect given many EVs see their range cut nearly in half in sub-freezing temperatures. Advanced PHEVs even run on any of three modes between Battery power, Series Hybrid, and Parallel Hybrid to optimize the kind of driving and efficiency desired. Until EVs have a reliable range of 500 miles on average realistic driving conditions (on current infrastructure), I think I'll prefer a PHEV. The good thing is that the technology and market selection is rapidly improving and increasing for electrified vehicles.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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