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from the I-want-to-drive-in-the-other-lane;-I-want-to-merge-like-humans-do dept.
Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
In the field of self-driving cars, algorithms for controlling lane changes are an important topic of study. But most existing lane-change algorithms have one of two drawbacks: Either they rely on detailed statistical models of the driving environment, which are difficult to assemble and too complex to analyze on the fly; or they're so simple that they can lead to impractically conservative decisions, such as never changing lanes at all.
At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation tomorrow, researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) will present a new lane-change algorithm that splits the difference. It allows for more aggressive lane changes than the simple models do but relies only on immediate information about other vehicles' directions and velocities to make decisions.
[...] One standard way for autonomous vehicles to avoid collisions is to calculate buffer zones around the other vehicles in the environment. The buffer zones describe not only the vehicles' current positions but their likely future positions within some time frame. Planning lane changes then becomes a matter of simply staying out of other vehicles' buffer zones.
[...] With the MIT researchers' system, if the default buffer zones are leading to performance that's far worse than a human driver's, the system will compute new buffer zones on the fly — complete with proof of collision avoidance.
Let me know when someone finds an algorithm that can deal with unknown situations as intuitively as human beings can. Until then...
Source: http://news.mit.edu/2018/driverless-cars-change-lanes-like-human-drivers-0523
(Score: 5, Insightful) by looorg on Friday May 25 2018, @12:03PM (13 children)
So they want their selfdriving car to cut other people off, honk their horn for no reason and generally behave like an ass in traffic? OK ....
(Score: 1, Redundant) by c0lo on Friday May 25 2018, @12:11PM (1 child)
On the bright side, it won't be worse than it is now.
Actually, it will be better by at least one less driver killed, ain't it?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Friday May 25 2018, @06:50PM
Impractially conservative? As opposed to antsy, Amphetamine-fuelled, alt-right weaving through traffic for no reason other than you have a rabid wolverine in your underpants? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThlYHfIVa8 [youtube.com]
Funny how the same arguments are made for autonomous killing machines: Robots will not do My Lai, and will follow Rules of Engagement more ethically than humans could, because robots do not become murderously pissed. So autonomously-killing auto-navigating automobiles would have no emotional issues in being "impractically conservative" if that was more practical. In fact, they may also be completely unemotional in deploying on-board SSM's to remove radically edgy alt-right lane-changers from the driving public, for the greater safety of all.
(Score: 5, Funny) by MostCynical on Friday May 25 2018, @12:15PM (10 children)
Weave
Not use indicators
Maybe wave a robot arm, when someone lets it in..
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 4, Touché) by RS3 on Friday May 25 2018, @01:45PM (4 children)
Random algorithm to maybe use indicators, usually after beginning the lane change.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Friday May 25 2018, @04:48PM (3 children)
More importantly, how do you correctly program it to force its way into the next lane, inches before the fourth cone that closes its own lane, after passing a couple hundred yards of crawling properly-merging traffic ?
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday May 25 2018, @07:19PM
Are you implying that it's best to merge early, leaving a perfectly good lane unused? You should read up on the zipper merge [arstechnica.com].
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(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday May 26 2018, @02:25AM
No problem for my randomness algorithm!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 26 2018, @02:52PM
if [$car >= $bmw]
do
goto front_of_line;
else
merge_slowly();
fi
(Score: 4, Funny) by looorg on Friday May 25 2018, @01:59PM
If they get an robot arm to wave I'm sure they'll also program it to give you the finger just as often, or more.
(Score: 2) by Snow on Friday May 25 2018, @03:20PM (3 children)
You are not entirely wrong.
When people want to change lanes, they kinda weave around a bit. They drift toward one side of the lane. Other people can notice this (subconsciously or otherwise) and can create a gap. Sometime the gap creation is to let them over. Other times it's because they seem erratic and you want to give them space. Either way, a space is cleared and the car can move over.
Another tactic is to just change lanes very slowly. No gap? No problem. Just kinda slowly drift over to where you want to be and most of the time it works out.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday May 25 2018, @03:24PM
Maybe near you. Near me, people seem to have a love affair with the lane markers and like to keep their tires on one of them even when they're not thinking about changing lanes. This is one of the major reasons for my paranoia philosophy of driving: if you assume all drivers are intentionally trying to hit you at all times, you'll be surprised a lot less often.
Being surprised is expensive
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 25 2018, @07:11PM
Please paste a huge sign on your car that says "idiot" and never drive around this area. Thanks.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday May 26 2018, @10:50AM
When I was having lessons for a heavy endorsement on my licence that is pretty much exactly what the instructor said.
him: "Move into that lane" (a lane of bumper to bumper traffic, moving at about the same speed as my lane)
me : (driving a large truck) "That lane is full, there's no space to move into."
him: "Just indicate and move over slowly. They'll get out of your way."
He was right, they did. Not sure if the large yellow [DRIVER UNDER INSTRUCTION] signs helped them make that decision.
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