Motor Trend http://www.motortrend.com/news/gm-super-cruise-2018-cadillac-ct6-with-auto-pilot/ reports that Cadillac will offer self-driving as an option starting this fall. The first few paragraphs from the article include:
What is it? The rebirth of full-on Autopilot, which Tesla Model S and X owners enjoyed for a little while before a back-seat “driver” died in a crash despite receiving seven warnings from the car to resume control and the lawyers shut down that party. That system was never intended to, you know, actually be an “auto pilot,” and this one’s automatic piloting is considerably more restrictive than Tesla’s cowboy over-the-air upgraded system. It’s also fully vetted by what surely by now must be the jitteriest and most conservative lawyers in all of autodom.
- Highways only. The system only becomes available once you’ve entered a meticulously lidar-mapped, divided, limited-access highway in the U.S. or Canada—or a limited-access stretch of a highway that switches between on-ramps and crossings (like California Highway 101). When the steering wheel icon appears at the upper right of the central speedometer gauge, press the Super Cruise button, and when the car has locked on to the center of the lane, the light bar on the top of the steering wheel turns green.
- Pay attention. Infrared emitters on the top quadrant of the steering wheel illuminate the driver’s head and face, and a steering column–mounted camera with infrared capability (for night detection) constantly monitors head position and eye focal point. Look away for 15 seconds or less, and the system demands you return your gaze to the road by first flashing the green light, then flashing red, sounding a tone, vibrating the seat, and ultimately issuing a voice warning. If none of that succeeds in returning the driver to the task of controlling the vehicle, it will slow to a stop in the lane of travel, put the hazard flashers on, and summon help via OnStar. If you get to those last stages and resume control, Super Cruise locks you out until the next time you stop and restart the car. A nice touch: capacitive sensors detect the driver’s hand(s) on the wheel, eliminating the need to wiggle it to verify control as with some lane keep assist vehicles.
Many more details in TFA. But it's laden with trackers (according to Privacy Badger).
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 05 2017, @09:15PM (2 children)
You shouldn't need to have hands on the steering wheel or pay attention. Transitioning to human control should only happen when the vehicle is stopped.
Proper: The vehicle stops, either due to software confusion or due to driver request. If a human wants to control the vehicle, then the car verifies that the driver is mentally alert, perhaps by demanding answers to a few easy calculus problems. If the driver is not alert and the software is too confused to continue, call for remote help.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 05 2017, @09:24PM (1 child)
> a few easy calculus problems
Yeah, right. Might as well take away the steering wheel and pedals, no one (except a very few) will pass this test.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @04:22AM
Well good.