Despite High Hopes, Self-Driving Cars Are ‘Way in the Future’

Re:Despite High Hopes, Self-Driving Cars Are ‘Way in the Fut... by rmolin88 on Wednesday July 17, 2019 @11:57AM (#20460845)

>Waymo’s CEO, John Krafcik, has admitted that a self-driving car that can drive in any condition, on any road, without ever needing a human to take control—usually called a “level five” autonomous vehicle—will basically never exist. At the Wall Street Journal’s D.Live conference, Krafcik said that “autonomy will always have constraints.” It will take decades for self-driving cars to become common on roads. Even then, they will not be able to drive at certain times of the year or in all weather conditions. In short, sensors on autonomous vehicles don’t work well in snow or rain—and that may never change.

This reminds me of the time Bill Gates allegedly said: "640K ought to be enough for anybody", taking about RAM memory.

Why would you say it will never happen? That is just silly. It may be decades out, today sensors may have a long way to go. But it's just silly to say it will NEVER happen.

Never say never!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Despite High Hopes, Self-Driving Cars Are ‘Way in the Fut... by landryraccoon on Wednesday July 17, 2019 @12:11PM (#20461025)

> In short, sensors on autonomous vehicles don’t work well in snow or rain

This is a curious line of reasoning for me. Why are humans allowed to drive in snow or rain though? Your sensors work considerably worse in snow or rain, and there is abundant evidence over the entire history of cars that humans butcher each other with motor vehicles in snow or rain constantly.

The bar is simply that an autonomous car has to be significantly less likely to cause an injury in snow or rain than a human is.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Despite High Hopes, Self-Driving Cars Are ‘Way in the Fut... by refurb on Wednesday July 17, 2019 @12:16PM (#20461100)

The problem is that with current technology (as I understand it), it doesn't just make a self-driving car worse in the rain or snow, it makes it so it can't drive at all.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Despite High Hopes, Self-Driving Cars Are ‘Way in the Fut... by shareIdeas on Wednesday July 17, 2019 @12:19PM (#20461128)

5G will give vehicle position better than GPS, will they use this instead of sensors for Lane detection?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Despite High Hopes, Self-Driving Cars Are ‘Way in the Fut... by untog on Wednesday July 17, 2019 @12:42PM (#20461387)

Lane detection isn't really the big problem here, though. It's whether there is an obstacle on the road in front of you.

[ Parent | on HN ]