Text 42860, 76 rader
Skriven 2006-11-19 22:17:01 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
  Kommentar till text 42840 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
Ärende: Insults
===============
Hello Roy!

On Sunday November 19 2006 12:52, you wrote to me:

 RW> 19 Nov 06 00:46, Michiel van der Vlist wrote to Roy Witt:

 MvdV>> Hello Roy!

 MvdV>> On Saturday November 18 2006 14:47, you wrote to me:

 ml>>>>> i went to school and got my class a cdl, yes... the need will

 MvdV>>>> Until someone develops a robot smart enough to drive a
 MvdV>>>> truck....

 RW>>> Already been done.

 MvdV>> Under very limited conditions...

 RW> Of course! We have to start somewhere.

 MvdV>>>> I expect to live to see it.

 RW>>> I saw it on US Intersate 15, just north of San Diego in the late
 RW>>> 90s. Before they turned the two center lanes into 'commuter'
 RW>>> lanes, it was imbedded with sensors that a computer used to
 RW>>> navigate the road. To prove it worked, they put six of them on
 RW>>> that road with computers running the show. They travelled a
 RW>>> total of 12 miles one way, ten times, and didn't have one
 RW>>> mishap.

 MvdV>> That's not good enough to replace human drivers.

 RW> Actually, it was touted as doing just that.

The claim was:

 ml>>>>> always be there... someone has to drive the trucks... that
 ml>>>>> won't ever stop...

And indeed it won't until those robots can drive a truck everywhere a human
can.

 MvdV>> It has to be able to drive in real traffic on *any* road. And
 MvdV>> be accepted by the public.

 RW> Just as the trolly system in SD is able to drive in real traffic, so
 RW> will the robotic vehicles of the future. i.e. both are or will be on a
 RW> track, although the motor vehicle will be on a virtual track, as was
 RW> demonstrated on I-15.

On a (virtual) track is not good enough. As I said it has to be able to drive
on *any* road, not just those equiped with a "track".

 RW> There is also the possibility of the robotic vehicles being guided by
 RW> GPS sats, which is further off than the present technology, but not
 RW> impossible to be attained within this decade.

The accuracy of the GPS system is good enough to do that now. But merely have
it follow the road is not good enough. The replace a human driver it has to be
able to recognise obstacles and navigate around it without ending up in the
ditch and running into other vehicles. It has to anticipate a child or a dog
crossing. It has to anticipate another driver changing direction without using
the turn indicator. Etc, etc.

 MvdV>> We are a long way from that.

 RW> Not as far away as you think.

Remember I also wrote: I expect to live to see it.


Cheers, Michiel

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