Autonomous Vehicles

[Hoofhearted]

(04-19-2018, 08:27 AM)Au165 Wrote: A computer with high speed processing powers and 20+ sensors is more likely to react correctly to humans being unpredictable than other humans are for a variety of reasons. Computer don't fatigue as humans do, they don't get distracted, they have more information to make decisions with at any given time. Let's say you are coming over a hill at 45 MPH and there is something in the road. At 45 MPH you'll need about 196 feet to stop if you make the decision when you see it, however a computer would only need roughly 130 feet to stop if the correct course of action is in fact to stop. 

Let's change the scenario and say the correct course of action is to swerve because the object is coming at you now. A human within a second has to decide left or right and how hard to swerve to miss the object as well as maintain control without hitting anyone else. The issue is there is no time to check both left and right of you and to calculate this, so people's general reaction is to swerve to the right. An autonomous car with it's complete 360 degree sensing network can know all obstacles around it and then choose the most favorable action based on having all info infinitely quicker than a human could compile it.

I think mixing autonomous cars into our current roadway system as soon as possible is the best possible solution. By mixing in rolling computers that can make better, more calculated, decisions while avoiding fatigue and distractions that lead to most vehicular accidents I think we can see the number of roadway fatalities drop quickly.

I what this technologys ability to value human life over anything else. If it's going down a side street, does it (or can it) know the difference between human life and, say, debri flying down the road? Maybe instead of new infrastructure, anyone who buys this car gets a chip implanted in them lol