our problem buses could soon be a thing of the past

[roller]

Driverless electric bus to be trialled in WA:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-09/d ... ac/7152650" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It looks so friendly, I just want to give it a hug.

[Mububban]

=

[Mububban]

But seriously folks....humans and our inattention and/or recklessness/anger cause traffic jams and accidents. Imagine driverless vehicles that don't speed, merge smoothly, don't run red lights, don't play with their phone when the light goes green keeping everyone waiting etc etc. Bring it on.

[dmwill]

Unsure if that roll cage is reassuring or not.

No doubt makes it safer, but surely if there is a need for one, there is an increased risk/chance of a crash. Same reason certain motorsport disciplines with regular street cars require a cage.

[Scott_C]

Unsure if that roll cage is reassuring or not.

No doubt makes it safer, but surely if there is a need for one, there is an increased risk/chance of a crash. Same reason certain motorsport disciplines with regular street cars require a cage.

Even if only driven on sealed roads the major mining companies require all their 4wd vehicles to be fitted with roll cages. Sometimes roll cages are a sign of a commitment to safety rather than a sign of increased risk.

For example, the Tesla Model S has pretty much the highest roof crush resistance of any sedan out there but with a low centre of gravity from the underfloor batteries it is considerably less likely to roll over than an average ICE sedan. Your argument would seem to suggest that we should expect to see Tesla's flipping over all the time because they have been built with stronger roofs than other sedans.

In the specific case of this driverless bus it may be cheaper to build it with an exposed roll cage, providing additional hand-holds for passengers, than engineering a concealed structure that conforms to the bodywork and offers less protection.

[StevOz]

Baka!...No really not a good idea or a close to an ideal solution, so more join the unemployment line and these auto pilots are so vulnerable to software faults and hacking it just beggars belief it is even being considered. I'm still of the opinion we should never have replaced ticket collectors and inspectors with machines and question the real savings if any, at least when the ticket inspectors and collectors were there, there was little to no fare invasion and unsociable passengers would be evicted and dealt with.

[softy]

This will happen and also with cars, it is just a matter of time. The tech is already here. The biggest hurdle is countries legislation like design regulations. Companies like Audi have already announced they can produce autonomous cars.

At least bikes will still be controlled by people.

[StevOz]

This will happen and also with cars, it is just a matter of time. The tech is already here. The biggest hurdle is countries legislation like design regulations. Companies like Audi have already announced they can produce autonomous cars.

At least bikes will still be controlled by people.

Really?..ebike+plug in mobile phone app set destination...no thanks...:p

[cj7hawk]

You guys are looking at this the wrong way - It's a cycle-friendly vehicle....

What more do you want?

David

[Baalzamon]

You guys are looking at this the wrong way - It's a cycle-friendly vehicle....

What more do you want?

David

Until someone hacks it..... Then it becomes a terror on the road

[piledhigher]

You guys are looking at this the wrong way - It's a cycle-friendly vehicle....

What more do you want?

David

Until someone hacks it..... Then it becomes a terror on the road

Aren't cars/buses pretty much the ultimate insecure interface right now, there is nothing in the vehicle stopping any user with psychotic intentions.

That's the current terror on the road.

[cj7hawk]

You guys are looking at this the wrong way - It's a cycle-friendly vehicle....

What more do you want?

David

Until someone hacks it..... Then it becomes a terror on the road

Aren't cars/buses pretty much the ultimate insecure interface right now, there is nothing in the vehicle stopping any user with psychotic intentions.

That's the current terror on the road.

That's absolutely correct.

Current vehicle control systems have an analogue wet-ware control system that implements a Hate Any Two-wheeled Entities ( HATE ) algorythm, that automatically detects cyclists and randomly implement one of several key programming functions, including must-get-in-front and sorry-mate-I-didn't-see-you and occasionally run-them-down. Not so good for us.

On the other hand, these driverless systems however use the Look-for Other Vulnerable Entities ( LOVE ) system. They see a bike? They slow or stop, and give way to the cyclist. I hear a rider doing a track-stand can keep one of these vehicles amused for hours.

Cool eh?

I can't wait for more driverless vehicles... Wait until you see the congestion they cause. And by congestion, I mean severe congestion where older wet-ware vehicles are forced to drive for an additional minute or two per hour to avoid them.

Sure, the driverless vehicles can be hacked, and after about fifteen minutes of trackstanding in front of them, the contents of these new vehicles will probably be hacking at the front windscreen with their bloodied fingers to get at you - this is a good time to ride off.

David

[Mububban]

Until someone hacks it..... Then it becomes a terror on the road

You Dark Lords, always so negative!

[billy70]

Current vehicle control systems have an analogue wet-ware control system that implements a Hate Any Two-wheeled Entities ( HATE ) algorythm, that automatically detects cyclists and randomly implement one of several key programming functions, including must-get-in-front and sorry-mate-I-didn't-see-you and occasionally run-them-down. Not so good for us.

On the other hand, these driverless systems however use the Look-for Other Vulnerable Entities ( LOVE ) system. They see a bike? They slow or stop, and give way to the cyclist. I hear a rider doing a track-stand can keep one of these vehicles amused for hours.

Cool eh?

I can't wait for more driverless vehicles... Wait until you see the congestion they cause. And by congestion, I mean severe congestion where older wet-ware vehicles are forced to drive for an additional minute or two per hour to avoid them.

Sure, the driverless vehicles can be hacked, and after about fifteen minutes of trackstanding in front of them, the contents of these new vehicles will probably be hacking at the front windscreen with their bloodied fingers to get at you - this is a good time to ride off.

David

Brilliant!

[Baalzamon]

Until someone hacks it..... Then it becomes a terror on the road

You Dark Lords, always so negative!

They need to do penetration testing on all smart things.... If penetration is successful that device should not be released to market until the holes are fixed. So will this driverless bus be penetration tested. Doubt it.

Lets see the list of what it would be programmed to recognised
Cars, animals, trucks, buses, pedestrians, cyclists, traffic lights, traffic signs, policeman directions. If one of those things got tweaked in recognition terms then the end results will be nothing short of injury. This is why the speed is stuck at 25kph