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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: 5, Insightful) by theluggage on Saturday August 05 2017, @09:55PM (5 children)
If it was possible to ensure that such idiots only killed themselves then it could be left to Darwin - unfortunately it was just luck that stopped others getting hurt.
...and how long before drivers learn to "zone out" with their eyes pointing at the road but their brains off with the fairies, because they're bored stiff from an hour or two of enforced inactivity? If you have to sit with your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road then you might as well bloody well drive and keep your brain occupied. Perhaps it would be better to have the driver driving and the AI - which won't get bored and become engrossed in the Harry Potter audiobook - monitoring their driving (which already happens in many new cars)?
That's the problem with self drive - if it needs the full attention of the driver to stop it screwing up then it isn't self drive.
...thus replacing one traffic hazard with another. Brilliant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @12:04AM (1 child)
> thus replacing one traffic hazard with another. Brilliant.
This does sound dumb. Look for an upgrade somewhere in the near future that pulls off on the shoulder, assuming that there is a shoulder on that stretch of road.
(Score: 2) by deadstick on Sunday August 06 2017, @02:44AM
Ooo, I want to follow one up a mountain road here in Colorado.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @01:34AM (2 children)
What's the point...?
The point is marketing. Many people with money to burn and little technical understanding will want these, if only to impress their friends. Nevertheless, this R&D may bring us closer to real autonomous driving, although I could also imagine Waymo people getting fed up and frustrated by all of these pretenders.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @01:54AM (1 child)
WaymoMercedes people getting fed up and frustrated by all of these pretendersFTFY
Mercedes has had self driving experiments going on since the late 1990s, Wayme/Google (with Stanford input) is quite a bit newer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @05:32PM
Ahh yes, like that German guy who "invented" the computer. What was his name again?