Big advance in autonomous car tech

A $250 solid-state LIDAR unit is about to hit the shelves. I wouldn't have expected this for at least another 2-3 years:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/sensors/quanergy-solid-state-lidar

Cars will need 2-4 of these to replace the single spinning LIDAR units current self-driving prototypes use, which cost well into the 5 digits...the units Google uses on theirs are $30k a piece

That's fantastic...thank you for sharing the information.

If you look at the partnerships announced at CES, there is some SERIOUS money being thrown at this problem by pretty much everyone. The tech will be ready before we are.

I, for one, would like to welcome our new robot overlords

I foresee a big upswing in bar patronage as a result of this and there'll be plenty of money for the drinks given all the money that'll be saved on car insurance.

I'm somewhat concerned for what self driving vehicles will do to the economy. There are a lot of people driving trucks and cabs that will be rendered obsolete. I know the theory is that new jobs will come up to support the new industry but I'm just not sure how much more shedding of labor type jobs we can handle.

I mean go autonomous car tech.

I'm just somewhat concerned about how much robocars are going to cut into my enjoy-the-experience-of-driving-somewhere time...

Not to mention the used-cars-as-challenge-fodder drout.

Actually, in fairness, the market will flood with used cars as people rush to embrace the new tech...on second thought, bring on the fancy new stuff!

And at what point will the D.C nobility or the King in Washington ban all non-self driving vehicles outright?

nocones wrote: I'm somewhat concerned for what self driving vehicles will do to the economy. There are a lot of people driving trucks and cabs that will be rendered obsolete. I know the theory is that new jobs will come up to support the new industry but I'm just not sure how much more shedding of labor type jobs we can handle. I mean go autonomous car tech.

There is always a multi-decade gap between the destruction of jobs by technology and the creation of new ones to support the industry in numbers that can replace the jobs eliminated, that's the part that always gets conveniently ignored (Edit: And that's assuming there will be such jobs, which may not be the case)

That's one of the reasons I would've liked to work in robotics, it'll be the last job in the world - therefore, pretty good job security.

WildScotsRacing wrote: And at what point will the D.C nobility or the King in Washington ban all non-self driving vehicles outright?

I don't think there will ever be an outright ban, when they could use the aircraft pilot model to discourage human driven vehicles-- and I'm sure the insurance industry could help with (dis)incentives.

"Sure, you can drive your own car. Go see a designated medical examiner to prove your fitness to drive every xx months. Once that's done, you will be ready to start the specified number of hours of instructions with a certified instructor in the type of vehicle you intend to drive. By the way, you'll also need to have a certified instructor ride with you on a periodic basis once you have a license, or start another round of instruction if you change to a different vehicle."

I think at some point maybe 30-50 years away, human-driven cars will be treated as special slow-moving vehicles, similar to horses and farming equipment today.

GameboyRMH wrote: I think at some point maybe 30-50 years away, human-driven cars will be treated as special slow-moving vehicles, similar to horses and farming equipment today.

I'd say closer to 15-20 in major cities.

In reply to Grtechguy:

I'll happily continue causing chaos with automated systems......I love screwing with people being worthless sacks of E36 M3 using adaptive cruise down the interstate.

Let's be honest. If you lived in Chicago, LA, NYC....would you really want to drive? keep the damn things to inner city traffic and replace cabbies with road rage.

Karacticus wrote: "Sure, you can drive your own car. Go see a designated medical examiner to prove your fitness to drive every xx months. Once that's done, you will be ready to start the specified number of hours of instructions with a certified instructor in the type of vehicle you intend to drive. By the way, you'll also need to have a certified instructor ride with you on a periodic basis once you have a license, or start another round of instruction if you change to a different vehicle."

Our drivers do that now. Annual written and road tests a physical every other year, and periodic check rides. I don't think retesting is a bad idea for the rest of the public.