Ford predicts self-driving, traffic-reducing cars by 2017
July 4, 2012 | Source: ExtremeTech
(Credit: Ford)
According to Ford, the self-driving car will be here within five years, using technologies available today.
The technology concept, known as Traffic Jam Assist, uses adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and the sensors from its active park assist.
While driver safety is the primary benefit, the environment wins as well. If one in four cars has Traffic Jam Assist or similar self-driving technologies, travel times are reduced by 37.5% and delays are reduced by 20%. That’s because adaptive cruise control (ACC) is better at pacing the car ahead without continual brake, speed-up, brake cycles.
For Traffic Jam Assist to work, Ford says you need a limited access roadway with no bicyclists, pedestrians, or animals (that you care about), and well-marked lanes.
Others, led by Volvo with City Safety and Pedestrian Safety, have created technologies that stop cars in potential accident situations on urban roads. Volvo doesn’t need a limited-access road, but City Safety is stop-only; it’s not continuous self-driving.
As an offshoot of Traffic Jam Assist, Ford says it will extend the capabilities of Active Park Assist, which is offered on cars now, from parallel parking to perpendicular parking, meaning parking at the mall or supermarket. In both cases, the car measures and steers while the driver controls the throttle and brakes.
Comments (19)
by Cybernettr
It looks like this video is saying that this technology won’t speed you through a traffic jam, just that you will be able to do other things while stuck in it, such as read, play video games, or take a nap.
by annon
Ford can’t even make a transmission that doesn’t break would you trust them to make a car that drives itself??
by Bruce Wright
@John Doe,
The Google “Driverless Car” technology is not yet at the point where it can “make a complete journey through all known possible road conditions without any human intervention” (not even nearly), although it does appear to be somewhat farther along than the major car manufacturers. One of the major problems with the Google system is that it cannot drive a new route by itself without intervention – it needs to have a human drive its routes at least once in a while (essentially to re-program the system with any changes encountered on the route). This may also imply that the system may have some difficulties with dealing with unusual weather conditions or other novel situations, for example, though Google obviously doesn’t want to talk about their system’s limitations.
A true “driverless car” would obviously be a huge advance – most likely many fewer accidents and fewer traffic jams, plus freeing up the driver to do other things while they commute, and allowing people like the blind and the elderly much more independence – but that’s all still a ways off. We’re getting there though. But even the intermediate technologies like what’s outlined in this article should improve the situation enormously – even reducing accidents by 10% would save thousands of lives every year, not to mention its potential for improving travel times.
by Vectoor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp9KBrH8H04
by Jay
“The Google “Driverless Car” technology is not yet at the point where it can “make a complete journey through all known possible road conditions without any human intervention” (not even nearly)”
Can you provide a source for this?
by Bruce Wright
@Jay, Google seems to be fairly tight-lipped on exactly what the limitations of their system are, however you might want to look at this article from CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/17/autos/google-driverless-car/index.htm Clearly it can do a lot of things pretty well, but there also appear to be limitations that surprised me, based on the hype that’s been written about the technology. In particular, the need for the car to be driven through the route by a human driver before it attempts the trip on its own, the fact that it is unable to use turn signals on its own, and the fact that it appears to get disoriented if it’s left parked for a while are all somewhat surprising limitations.
by Rob Mason
The problem of driving in unusual conditions would be solved by linking all cars to the Cloud so that the ‘experience’ of all cars is pooled and available to all other cars. If my car has driven from my house to my work in central London then your car could drive the same route even if it has only driven from Bel Air to downtown LA previously.
by Guillermo
Exactly, Google people said this I think that is not your car that needs to record the route, but any car!, something like Waze
by Skye
Or this: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Lisa-Ling-Goes-Inside-a-Tent-City
by Skye
If the reduction of labor involved in production and services reflects a reduction in costs and a reduction in price to the consumer (which companies would offer to beat their competition), then as the average income lowers due to job obseletion, so does – if not proportionally – the cost of living (in a perfect world). Either that or welfare programs have to step up, welfare payed by people who’s jobs are not yet obselete.
The new recipients of wellfare become a new class of government employee called “consumers” where their purpose (for lack of a better one) is to keep money in circulation by “consuming” and the economy from crashing.
One by one each class of labor dissappears, the supply of taxable income for wellfare also dissappears as the cost of living approaches zero. The end state is that mechanization of the human life support system becomes complete, reducing the price of goods and services to nothing and the job supply to nothing.
This creates an era similar to the era before the invention of the economy and jobs, when apple on the tree was worth the energy required to reach out, grab it, and “consume” it. Only in this case the apple will reach out to us.
But “eating” will be so totally 2010, by that point.
by Gorden Russell
I could see having one of these robocars if it will drive me up to the food court entrance of the mall and go park itself in the satellite parking lot. But I want to see the Singularity and walking is the best exercise. Maybe I’ll just keep my Toyota and walk in from the far end of the parking lot.
by Gorden Russell
I worked my way through college by driving a cab. I had a lot of trouble with people running out without paying. These robocabs will need to photograph each passenger. What will people say when the robot can’t break a big bill? I can see people hammering at the dashboard in rage when they give the wrong address. They’ll be screaming, “I know where I live, I know where I live!” Then there are the drunks who puke all over the car and can’t give any address. One drunk got in my cab and told me, “Take me to my aunt’s house.” I asked him, where does she live?” He answered, in a tone of voice that told me I was stupid for asking, “With my uncle.” I finally got the address out of him and took him there. When we arrived, he gave me a nickel for a tip and said, “Here, buy yourself a new personality.” If I’d had a gun I would have knee-capped him. When a strong AI starts to drive a cab, people will give it ulcers.
by Chrispium
@Gorden Russell above
The cabs will perhaps require a credit card to enter in the first place, then the company will know who enters the cab or at least one of the passengers. This way any damages caused to the cab can be charged to the culprit right away. There will also no doubt be internal monitoring of who is in the cab, like there is in cabs in some countries already.
PS. The rude customers will no doubt be the reason the artilect wars starts ;)
by John Doe
Bri, the economic impact of driverless vehicles will be so overwhelmingly positive that the social loss due to the elimination of driver based jobs will be absolutely neglible, especially if you live in a country with socialised healthcare like the UK. We lose so much money to traffic accidents (about 1% of our GNP), the savings from the reduction in road traffic accidents would be so phenomenal that this would easily compensate the job losses several fold.
Any sane person would not miss these tragic days where their loved ones can be wiped out of existence by some drunk, selfish human who cannot think about the consequences of their actions beyond their own primal needs.
Driverless cars should be receiving massive amounts of investment but sadly our politicians cannot think more than a year into the future, and the truth is that thousands of lives are being lost due to the lackadaisical approach we have to AI research.
by Bri
Don’t get me wrong. I want driverless cars, and all the advances that robot technology will bring, it’s just that there will be a lot of social change as technology zooms past us. Ray said that we are near the knee of the exponential scale. AI and robotics will out compete us in every field. Before, we used tech as a lever at work to earn an income. Soon the tool won’t need us directing it. Then your choices for income will dwindle, unless you can compete. Your just not imagining how complex and versatile they will become. As for bad passengers in a cab. The AI running the taxi, will be part of the AI running the company. It will learn and even anticipate situations . Cleaning would be robotic to, and the robot doesn’t know to be offended by the circumstances. It won’t need a vacation, or a therapist. Won’t show up late cause “you can take this job and shove it” feelings make you. It doesn’t need a tip. Can work 24/7. No pension. No law suits for being injured in a robbery, or accident. Many of these same issues will affect all the other jobs too. Even jobs that require creativity will fall by the wayside as A I learns all our skills.
by John Doe
This isn’t a true driverless car. Ford, VW, BMW, General Motors and Volvo have all trumped up their “driverless” technologies, but they are all completely feeble in comparison to Sebastian Thrun’s work, and are about as driverless as an airliner is pilotless.
Look – a driverless car isn’t driverless until it can make a complete journey through all known possible road conditions without any human intervention. Google are the only ones in possession of this technology, all the other companies are licking their wounds and hyping their inferior technologies that they’ve ploughed so much money into, because they see the Google driverless technology on the market horizon and realise that all of their products are already redundant and they won’t see a return on their R&D.
Too bad, should have started earlier. Google is king now.
by Chrispium
@John Doe above
Google will only remain king if they can license their technology to the auto manufacturers. Retrofitting a car with a self-driving kit will be more expensive than an auto maker putting a kit in the car while it’s still on the conveyor belt. If the car makers can come up with a system as effective as Googles they are likely to not license Googles tech and then Google will be the ones that have lost their R&D money. Could be Google might start making cars? :)
by Bri
Most people drive their car like they are sitting on their living room couch. They have no idea of the forces at play. Their only interests are personal. While waiting on line at traffic court, I spoke with the two ladies in front of me. When asked she replied, that her friend was here to tell the judge that they were talking, so she didn’t realize that she was doing eighty. Her friend was at least seven months pregnant. I didn’t say any more and turned around, thinking. I can only imagine what the judge hears! Once it’s established though. There goes every driver oriented job. It’s just a matter of time. If you needed a limo, would you really want a human driver? Even a taxi would be more private without a driver. Cheaper for the taxi company, or bus company. Long distance trucking would be revolutionized. But say goodbye to those jobs. Talk about an extinction rate. Your not thinking about the effects on our labor based economy. What other trade will emerge to take in these new to the new job market employies. What skills should a career councilor suggest.(whose gonna pay the wages, when robots keep taking in stages, whose gonna pay the bills).
by aus
That’s 3 years earlier than my prediction. Excellent!