mkirsch wrote:
4x4ord wrote:
When jumbo jets are safely landed by computers I think it's pretty obvious that the necessary technology exists to drive a car down the road.
Not necessarily.
Jumbo jets have a fairly limited set of conditions and parameters to deal with. Another plane is not going to suddenly decide to change lanes without looking, or stop short in front of you, for example.
While technically those situations do arise, rarely, they are almost always FATAL even if the aircraft is being flown manually. By and large commercial aircraft control keeps a safe distance between planes and gives each plane exclusive rights to the runway as it is taking off and landing.
In a car you have a near-infinite set of variables to deal with. Kid pops out from between two parked cars chasing a ball. Some idiot tries to change lanes and occupy the same physical space as you. Guy ahead of you has a blowout, skids into the barrier, and starts flipping end-over-end... Just a few examples.
The situations you mention present some of the challenges the autonomous vehicles are faced with. The autonomous car will not be programmed to just follow rules....see this ..do that. Instead the computers are being developed to have a form of artificial intelligence. The fully autonomous cars will not be controlled by a smart phone.
