Autonomous Systems

Re: the above truck picture, we've all been there in the northern states. Not like Kentucky.

There's a textbook approach autonomy uses called Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), where perception data is compared with previously generated models and live data to perform both localization (where are we?) and mapping (what's around us?) simultaneously.

In the snow example it helps because if we've driven on that road before we can perform localization from terrain features. Too bad there are none in that environment, and the ones that do exist (fence posts) can get confusing since they match a lot of different areas. But snow ruins it a lot because it changes the terrain in unpredictable and system error-causing ways.

All that to say, yeah, snowfall is tough.

Sentagur said:

Are you talking about previously gathered models the vehicle itself encountered or something preprogrammed from the factory? How does it anchor the previous models when there are so many things around that experience small changes over time?
Specifically with snowfall when the car is sitting on top of snow and the perspective is different(or when it lands in a pothole)?

as a disclaimer sorry if the questions are stupid but this topic is very interesting and my expertise on any if it based on stuff i picked up on wiki.

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Well, there's a lot of possibilities and nobody has made a real industry standard way that everyone follows. Like anything else there's a spectrum of possibilities from low-end to ultra-futuristic-cool.

On the low end you have a perception system that uses SLAM to map out what is immediately around it and use that information to avoid running people over, figure out where lanes are and figure out how it's moving around its environment. This sounds minor, but is critical because you absolutely want a high degree of accuracy in the roll and pitch of your vehicle to help your perception. As the vehicle moves through the world it forgets everything.

On the high end (this doesn't exist yet), you'd have a network of vehicles all looking around the world, examining it and then sending the latest information to each other. So that tire blowout that has a huge truck tire in the middle of the road? Your car heard about it two miles away. That pothole that got caused last night because an autonomous snowplow blew the fuck out of the road? Your car will hear about it, expect it, and even confirm where it is once it sees it because it expects it.

The thing that makes it difficult is that any kind of machine learning system has to work the first time. Maybe at the beginning of commercial autonomy consumers will accept having to manually drive their car somewhere a few times before the autonomous system will give it a go, but that's a shitty solution.

We’ve taught our software to recognize and safely respond to this type of riding. Because we’ve observed many instances of lane splitting, we’re better able to predict how a rider will navigate around us and other cars.

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Gotta be a sweet future for bikers when enough autonomous cars are on the road that they can just lane split quickly through traffic that splits apart like the Red sea for Moses.

I have no doubt that it'll be easy for autonomous vehicles to be more friendly to motorcycles than human drivers. It's mostly a perception issue and the sensor payload on these things (Except the Tesla right now) blows human perception out of the water when it comes to bikes.

As some of you know I work at General Motors developing software. Not on the cars themselves. But in this vein 2017 we have a bunch of live autonomous vehicle testing going on in Phoenix, San Francisco and we have ones that work similar to the Google Cars on our Datacenters in Michigan.

Pretty cool stuff!

TJT said:

As some of you know I work at General Motors developing software. Not on the cars themselves. But in this vein 2017 we have a bunch of live autonomous vehicle testing going on in Phoenix, San Francisco and we have ones that work similar to the Google Cars on our Datacenters in Michigan.

Pretty cool stuff!

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Sorry for my bad interpretation, but are you saying you work on the autonomous software? Or you make software that isn't onboard?

Tuco said:

Sorry for my bad interpretation, but are you saying you work on the autonomous software? Or you make software that isn't onboard?

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I work on totally unrelated internal finance software. But the company is seriously developing autonomous tech and it is pretty cool.

Yeah they seem to be pretty tight lipped about it, but here's their car:



Pretty standard looking setup. Two velodyne HDL32s on top, looks like a dual antenna GPS receiver, some cameras and radar.

Not sure how I feel about GM's approach of just buying an autonomy group for 1 billion vs Ford's of developing in house.

Cad said:

Are those just all Bolts?

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Yes. Of the 2017 lineup the Bolt got the highest quality award we received.

a_skeleton_03 said:

It looks like Google is taking motorcycles seriously.

Keeping motorcyclists safe – Waymo

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Recently my home state of California became the first state to formally legalize lane splitting — and it’s very common, particularly during peak hour.

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I saw this everywhere last time I was on an LA freeway. I have had a motorcycle license since I was 18 and passed the MSF riders classes. And it's the dumbest fucking shit I have seen. I have no problem doing a buck-ten on a wet road, but splitting lanes is how you end up dead. California is stupid and wants more organ donors.

Cad said:

So, you work at GM, if they're going to make an electric car which I am intensely interested in, why did they make it look like a god damn $12k econobox? Why not just make it a more stylish sedan? Why not make a malibu or impala EV, that'd be a little less embarrassing. Driving a Bolt looks like you also purchase lotto tickets at the check cashing place. What the fuck man

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Pretty sure this model marketed well with the same types of people who bought the Spark and the Sonic who were also the demographic who would buy the Bolt. For the meantime there is the hybrid Volt sedan that looks stylish.

Cad said:

Spark and Sonic are sub $20k shitboxes. Bolt is a $40k shitbox. ??

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You say it like dumbasses never bought a car they could barely afford before. But really man, I don't work in marketing... or car design or any of that. My guess is as good as yours.

I was in a Tesla showroom a couple weeks back. They had a shell off chassis. The simplicity of the build is astonishing. When you see how little there is to an electric car, the Telsa price tag is pretty fucking outrageous.

Where the fuck is the electric pick up truck? I would buy one they day they go to market.

a_skeleton_03 said:

Lane splitting is only legal in CA when the cars are stopped or at some low speed from what I recall. Sure that doesn't stop riders from doing it whenever.

Them legalizing it doesn't change anything, they were the one state that just didn't have it as illegal.

I would lane split every day while I lived in CA and it was often times much safer than sitting behind a car where someone doesn't notice you and squishes you into the car in front of you.

Fun fact the only reason lane splitting is legal is because motorcycles all used to be air cooled so if you stopped too long in the warm weather of CA you would overheat so you wanted to keep the airflow moving as long as possible and then get moving right away when the light turned green.

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I think having it legal is dumb, it's like a stop sign, people only yield for them, and yield signs people dont even slow down. Permission to split lanes is asking to get smacked. Let bikes ride the emergency lane in bumper to bumper, going up the middle is a recipe for disaster.

And yeah I saw people doing 90 mph splitting lanes on the LA freeway. And people there drive like it's Fury Road when traffic is actually moving. Asian shit holes with no traffic rules are less spooky than some LA freeways.