Quote:
Originally Posted by Bbb34
What I don't get is "semi" autonomous driving. You're neither "here nor there" you're not driving, but can't really do anything else and have to alert at all times. I get that this is where technology is right now and it might be perfect one day, but the state we are at now to me just doesn't seem beneficial to the owners.
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"Semi" part of "semi"-autonomous moniker is a fig leaf.
All it says is that auto-pilot "semi"-works under some circumstances.
When you recognizes the circumstances that allow it to work well, it's great, and is materially beneficial to the owners. You just need to recognize when the circumstances change and you need to disengage the semi-autonomous autopilot. And keep one hand on the wheel to provide token confirmation that you are doing the above.
Nothing more, nothing else.
The state of the art is pretty much lane departure control plus active cruise control (speed up) with active collision avoidance (slow down or stop). The above is what you can accomplish today with forward radars and forward facing optical sensor(-s). Add GPS to help figure out which way the road is turning ahead.
360-degree ultrasonic sensors allow you to detect short range obstacles (or lack thereof = parking spot availability to auto-park), and avoid collisions with cars that drift into the ~16" radius around the car. That's it.
Active maneuvering (car initiated lane changes to follow GPS directions, for example) will be the next steps towards near-autonomous driving. But that will require much more processing power, multi-mode radars for varying ranges, stereo infra-red cameras, etc, etc. Google is a big believer in laser range finders. It's more precise than optical cameras, but much much more expensive:
http://www.techinsider.io/difference...s-cars-2015-12
That's the difference between tracking straight and reacting to close-proximity incursions (with high, but not 100% accuracy), and proactive maneuvering! To me, the latter is the auto-pilot.
Anything short of that is "semi"-something.
Nevertheless, what Tesla does today is already good enough for making progress through the traffic jams in near perfect safety. Open road speeding in conditions that compromise effectiveness of its camera sensors - not so much.
Not a bad start at at all, but certainly, far from perfect.
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