SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The Car Connection reports that back in May Google unveiled the prototype of its first autonomous car built in-house but there were a few features that the new model lacked — for example, a steering wheel and brake pedal. Now, California's DMV has told Google to return those accouterments to their traditional locations so that riders can take "immediate physical control" of the car, if necessary. That and other autonomous vehicle regulations kick in on September 15.
"This isn't a huge setback for Google," writes Richard Reed. "After all, the prototypes aren't nearly ready for primetime, they're just being used for tests. Though the control-less models have worked fine on closed tracks, with no accidents to date, they'll eventually be navigating real streets in real traffic, so they'll need to be up to code. In fact, the DMV may tighten up things a bit further next month, when it issues regulations concerning test vehicles on public roads." In the long run, though, we'd expect the DMV to loosen some of these restrictions. It will undoubtedly take years for regulators and the public to begin trusting autonomous cars — and even then, it's likely that automakers will keep some kind of manual override system in place. After all, given the safety records of autonomous cars — records that will certainly improve with the rollout of vehicle-to-vehicle technology — we're hopeful that motorists will (almost) never need to use them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by evilviper on Friday August 29 2014, @07:15AM
Actually, with the rise of drive-by-wire with no mechanical linkages from the wheel (and/or the pedals), there's no reason not to switch to superior options, like analog joysticks. If it can work for fighter jets, I think it can handle your commute. My only concern would be ensuring there's enough tension on the stick, that a sneeze at 90MPH doesn't put you in the ditch, while the trend with vehicles is increasingly reducing the effort needed to handle the controls.
At least with gas pedals, I'd like to see the trend reversed... Fewer crazy speeders if they've got to put some effort into higher throttle.
Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @08:05AM
A fighter jet is much less sensitive to small deviations in the flight path, simply because the distance to the next object you might hit is much larger. And even when landing, the airstrip is generally much wider than the typical street, and there are typically no other airplanes going in the opposite direction directly on the side, and also parking airplanes are rarely seen directly besides the airstrip.
Not to mention that you are much better trained when flying a fighter jet, and I'm sure you're much more easily losing your license if you do something wrong in a fighter jet than if you do something wrong in a car. I certainly wouldn't want the typical car driver to fly a fighter jet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @09:20AM
Double joysticks are the wave of the future. Slipstream. It's not the best way to travel, it's the only way.
(Score: 2) by Jaruzel on Friday August 29 2014, @01:34PM
Double Joysticks would make me think I'm playing BattleZone [chucksarcade.com] all the time.
For those that don't know, BattleZone gameplay looked like this [retrogamesnow.co.uk] - it was one of the first 3D vector based arcade games, and the player had to steer their 'tank' using classic tank controls: both joys forward for forward, both back for reverse, left back, right forward for turn left, right forward, left back for turn right.
Damn, I'm old.
-Jar
This is my opinion, there are many others, but this one is mine.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Horse With Stripes on Friday August 29 2014, @11:41AM
No reason at all ... except that well over 99% of people who can drive are not trained to drive via a joystick. Sure, they can learn, but not by throwing them out into traffic and saying "good luck with that!"
Transition to joystick steering will take a very long time if you consider the number and age range of drivers. Plus, it's a chicken & egg situation. You're not going to sell many cars with just a joystick for steering until you have drivers who are trained, and you're not going to get a lot of trained drivers with no way to practice driving with a joystick. And don't say "video games" because driving in a video game is about as accurate a representation of the act as shooting a gun is in a video game. In real life they are both very different.
(Score: 2) by evilviper on Friday August 29 2014, @12:11PM
Unless manufacturers simply include BOTH types of controls in cars for a few years... Giving everyone time to catch up.
I don't recall driver's ed' and testing needing to be updated to deal with cruise control, touch-screens, back-up cameras, etc., etc.
Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
(Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Friday August 29 2014, @12:30PM
Yeah... But those things aren't really critical to operating the car. There's a huge difference in feel when driving with a steering wheel to driving with a joystick. Joysticks are going to be way more sensitive, require much smaller movements to preform the same operation and the action (turning the wheel vs. pushing the joystick from side to side) are much different as well. I know lots of people that royally suck at video games simply because they just can't handle the control style.
I could see some huge advantages to a controller though, someone that's paralyzed from the waste down, or "little people" too short to reach the peddle could operate break and gas and steer the car with just their hands. But again as it is now they usually have vehicles modified to have an accelerator/break buttons on the steering wheel so really the controller still isn't necessary and would be a huge change in control style.
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe