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from the where'd-I-leave-that-steering-wheel dept.
Ford plans to build cars capable of SAE Level Four autonomous driving and have them hit the road as part of a ride-hailing service by 2021:
Building on more than a decade of autonomous vehicle research and development, Ford's first fully autonomous vehicle will be a Society of Automotive Engineers-rated level 4-capable vehicle without a steering wheel or gas and brake pedals. It is being specifically designed for commercial mobility services, such as ride sharing and ride hailing, and will be available in high volumes. [...] This year, Ford will triple its autonomous vehicle test fleet to be the largest test fleet of any automaker – bringing the number to about 30 self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans on the roads in California, Arizona and Michigan, with plans to triple it again next year.
Ford was the first automaker to begin testing its vehicles at Mcity, University of Michigan's simulated urban environment, the first automaker to publicly demonstrate autonomous vehicle operation in the snow and the first automaker to test its autonomous research vehicles at night, in complete darkness, as part of LiDAR sensor development.
Ford also announced investments/partnerships with Velodyne, SAIPS, Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, and Civil Maps, as well as an expansion of its Silicon Valley presence with a new campus in Palo Alto.
Reported at BBC, NPR, CNBC, and Bloomberg, which notes that the company is skipping driver-assist steps.
(Score: 2) by quintessence on Thursday August 18 2016, @11:08PM
I still want to see one of these cars handle a blizzard or construction season.
One of the bits I anticipate is not only smart cars, but smart roads where there are transmitters and sensors to help autonomous vehicles through unusual circumstances. I mean cones are laid out as a visual cue for drivers so it makes sense to have an equivalent cue for autonomous vehicles that can be incorporated into the programing.
Adverse weather is going to be trickier as even the best of drivers miscalculate road condition, but embedded sensors in the road might help machine and human alike.
TL;DR- Roadways now are designed for human drivers. I anticipate a redesign to accommodate driverless cars.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday August 18 2016, @11:17PM
The US can't allocate money to rebuild known-bad bridges, and you would like intelligent roads?
Right ... Get ready to only ride in autonomous mode on the "I-88 by Google" towards the "Facebook I-90", with a right turn at the "Ford/Apple I-55"
(Score: 2) by quintessence on Thursday August 18 2016, @11:28PM
Um, what you meant to say is the federal government can't allocate to repair older bridges.
Various state governments are doing reasonably well.
And I don't anticipate it all happening at once, but being added once a standard is agreed upon and in the course of roads getting repaired.
So you may very well see "I-88 by Google" as year by year more roads are equipped with sensors.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday August 18 2016, @11:56PM
> Various state governments are doing reasonably well.
Yes, the numbers are declining, but they're still scary, especially compared to the investments in Pentagon toys.
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/no10/defbr15.cfm [dot.gov]
> So you may very well see "I-88 by Google" as year by year more roads are equipped with sensors.
Did I mention that those would all turn into private tollways (unless you're in a "sponsor brand" car)?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @02:31AM
smart roads where there are transmitters and sensors to help autonomous vehicles through unusual circumstances
You must have quite a lot more faith in construction crews than I do. It seems local crews are always misplacing signage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @05:59PM
Gotta love the "Construction Ahead - Expect Long Delays" signs placed right after the intersection where you could've turned to avoid it.