SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
A pair of vehicles are operating on a route through the city as part of the Baltic state's presidency of the European Union, and have so far managed not to collide with any other road users, national broadcaster ERR reports [gallery itself requires JS from s.err.ee and news.err.ee -- Ed.].
But there have been a number of near misses since the launch on Saturday, ERR says. An eyewitness reports that one of the buses failed to give way to a police car with its lights flashing on Monday; while an ERR photographer saw a bus ignore a red light at a pedestrian crossing, ploughing on regardless of the "surprise" it had provoked.
Despite no-one driving, local traffic law means that there still has to be a responsible person on board, meaning that all passengers are greeted by a host. They've been tasked with explaining the technology to passengers new to the world of autonomous vehicles, ERR says.
Judging from the picture, the buses soothingly seem to be constructed out of Nerf.
Your humble editor lives and works only hundreds of meters from each end of the trial route, so decided to take a quick, and fortunately uneventful, trip on one this (thursday) lunchtime. I now realise there are some things I forgot to snap, such as what the member of staff (a) does, and (b) can do. The answers to which are simple: (a) very little apart from gesticulate to pedestrians who are too frightened to cross in front of the vehicle; and (b) very little at all, as there are no controls. There's a keyboard from which a reset can probably be invoked, but that's it. [Not so - I saw more on my second trip, see below -- Ed.]
I'm happy to treat this as an AMAA (Ask Me Almost Anything), in particular if that means I can waste time on the bus again tomorrow!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Friday August 04 2017, @11:54AM (6 children)
Pretty awesome, FatPhil, thanks. I hadn't realized from the article that the buses are running on the old tram lines, so the interaction with other vehicles is limited to crossings.
Are the buses in fact covered with Nerf? ;-)
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday August 04 2017, @03:21PM
I'm yet to be persuaded that these actually provide anything more than a tram.
But cast your mind back 100+ years, and I'm sure people were saying that about the horseless carriage. Early adopters often look a bit silly.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday August 04 2017, @03:22PM (3 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday August 04 2017, @04:39PM (2 children)
No pictures of FatPhil?
I wanted to see if YOU were covered in nerf! ;)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday August 04 2017, @06:27PM (1 child)
That's one of the few favours I do the world.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday August 04 2017, @09:56PM
:)
I don't selfie, cause i hate the word 'selfie'. Selfie sticks are like car alarms: stupid inventions for stupid people (i find EVERYONE just ignores car alarms now, they go off so often, and probably makes it easy to steal the car). Selfie sticks are just 'the R word'.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 04 2017, @07:11PM
Yes, thanks!
Since these drive in both directions (and don't turn around at the end of the route), which wheels steer?
+ Maybe it's 4-wheel steering all the time? In this case the front and rear probably steer opposite direction which is generally OK at low speeds (but scary at highway speeds).
+ Or, the leading wheels become the normal steering "front wheels" depending on direction? In this case the trailing wheels would be locked straight ahead.
o It's not long wheelbase like a full-sized bus, but even so, if the "front wheels" do all the steering, the rear wheels will track inside the radius of the front wheels. Do the rear wheels stay away from curbs, or (as sometimes seen in tight maneuvering) do the rear wheels roll up on the curbing?
Are they battery powered? Do they charge during the day, or just at night in a bus garage somewhere else?