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posted by martyb on Thursday August 08 2019, @04:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the imagine-a-Beowulf-cluster-of-these dept.

And Now, a Bicycle Built for None (archive)

As corporate giants like Ford, G.M. and Waymo struggle to get their self-driving cars on the road, a team of researchers in China is rethinking autonomous transportation using a souped-up bicycle.

This bike can roll over a bump on its own, staying perfectly upright. When the man walking just behind it says "left," it turns left, angling back in the direction it came.

It also has eyes: It can follow someone jogging several yards ahead, turning each time the person turns. And if it encounters an obstacle, it can swerve to the side, keeping its balance and continuing its pursuit.

It is not the first-ever autonomous bicycle (Cornell University has a project underway) or, probably, the future of transportation, although it could find a niche in a future world swarming with package-delivery vehicles, drones and robots. (There are even weirder ideas out there.) Nonetheless, the Chinese researchers who built the bike believe it demonstrates the future of computer hardware. It navigates the world with help from what is called a neuromorphic chip, modeled after the human brain.

Towards artificial general intelligence with hybrid Tianjic chip architecture (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1424-8) (DX)


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 08 2019, @10:48AM (5 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday August 08 2019, @10:48AM (#877398)

    I can't imagine how the delivery toaster could be considered "weirder" than an autonomous vehicle with large turning radius and an inherent instability at very low speeds being considered for urban deployment.

    A bicycle is a lot like a fixed wing UAV, maybe more efficient, but with severe limitations on application areas due to the inability (or kludge required) to hover / stand still.

    Now, when Dominos starts stocking a rolling pizza oven with common orders and predictively delivering fresh baked just out of the oven pizza to your door just as you are picking up the phone to order, that will be weird.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @12:09PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @12:09PM (#877413)

    > ... but with severe limitations on application areas due to the inability (or kludge required) to hover / stand still.

    No kludge or special equipment required (using a track bike), the "track stand" is a skill that many cyclists have mastered,
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KJEN_KrVM [youtube.com]
    Or, another technique for use in close quarters,
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCJiP-2OT0U [youtube.com]
    If you don't have a track bike (fixed wheel), you can find a small "ramp" (depression) in the road--then you pedal forward and let the bike coast back down the tiny hill to move backwards slightly.

    At one bicycle messenger competition I attended, the track stand competition was won by a messenger gal. As I recall, the rules were, one minute with both hands on the handlebars, then the next minute with one hand, and then the sudden death round with no hands on the handlebars. After the other contestants had given up (put a foot on the ground, or hand on the bars), she proceeded to take off her jersey and sports bra, all while track standing.

       

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 08 2019, @03:45PM (2 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 08 2019, @03:45PM (#877514) Journal

      Link to vid, or it didn't happen. And, no, views from the rear don't count.

      inB4TMB

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 09 2019, @03:24AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 09 2019, @03:24AM (#877755)

        No vid or pic that I know of. This messenger contest happened before phones had cameras. Besides, the crowd of mostly other messengers were respectful (as well as appreciative) and were mature enough to not post photos that might cause trouble later.

        She eventually wrote a book about bike messengers, review here, http://www.sfcall.com/issues%202002/5.17.02/williams_reilly_5_17_02.htm [sfcall.com]

        Disclaimer: When she organized a different competition in a city near to me, I volunteered to help out, so I met her briefly, about 20 years ago.

  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday August 08 2019, @04:53PM

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 08 2019, @04:53PM (#877546) Journal

    That's a point. They should do an autonomous unicycle. That wouldn't require much room at all to turn around.

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