Submitted by 69FunnyNumberGuy420 t3_11a2eo9 in pittsburgh
Comments
akmalhot t1_j9pxqqs wrote
Locamation tech was to have driverless follow trucks, not fully autonomous trucks
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_j9pryvd wrote
Possibly not for only highway traffic. That would be more easily doable.
CL-MotoTech t1_j9q38y7 wrote
I went to a conference in Michigan and the goals have obviously changed from "autonomous vehicle goes anywhere" to "autonomous vehicle goes known locations on known routes during well understood travel periods."
And I think that makes sense. It seems way more achievable.
Emancipation_of_meme t1_j9ron19 wrote
"autonomous vehicle goes known locations on known routes during well understood travel periods."
Isn’t that … almost essentially the same as a bus or subway system? Or am I just not getting the autonomous vehicles hype?
desolation-of-frog t1_j9rs6f3 wrote
Yeah don’t drink the kool-aid. There’s a long and cherished history of Silicon Valley reinventing the bus. Bus, trolleys, light rail, and trains are a much better solution for society: those solutions just don’t allow vulture capitalists to profit obscenely from building out public infrastructure. (Look at Uber squeezing us all for an example of their game plan.)
realtabeag t1_j9td4xh wrote
>almost essentially the same as a bus or subway system
Both of those things have drivers though and a subway needs an enormous amount of specialist infrastructure.
I think autonomous vehicles in everyday situations are a terrible idea but for long distance routes on major highways they seem perfect, basically a small step up from current cruise control. I never understood why companies focused on the most difficult driving scenarios first, I guess it's potentially more lucrative.
Emancipation_of_meme t1_j9tw475 wrote
But aren’t roads and highways “specialist infrastructure” as well that require expensive construction and maintenance? And what about parking garages, lots etc. that take up tons of space? Not trying to be contentious, just genuinely curious about the difference you mentioned.
realtabeag t1_j9u6lnn wrote
I agree but those things all already exist. The rail network is not extensive enough to be an alternative and suggesting this is the same as a bus is missing the point that it's autonomous, it's like saying "how is this different from regular trucks?"
drunkenviking t1_j9rjs5r wrote
Why wasn't that goal #1 from the start?
voondebah t1_j9rk6g4 wrote
hubris
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_j9rts9g wrote
Much more doable and safer if everyone can agree on a standard and we can build that standard into interstates and companies can autonomously haul from point A to B on the interstates and then have humans drive pre A and post B.
[deleted] t1_j9rrqx2 wrote
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Significant-Nail-987 t1_j9spmg9 wrote
I agree. I think this concept works in a hybrid form. Most travel routes are well maintained, clearly pained and signed. I've been toying with the idea of having automated trucks to do the long distance hauls between checkpoints outside of cities where a driver will pick up the auto truck and take it into the city. Eliminate man hours, and the isolation of cross country truck driving. Drivers can actually have lives. But yeah I've no money or contacts to even start that. My point is, I think the concept is completely viable in a more hybrid model.
chuckie512 t1_j9qqxst wrote
We already have a super efficient way to send freight along dedicated corridors. Trains.
leadfoot9 t1_j9rab54 wrote
Yes. Long-haul trucking should basically not exist.
And short-haul trucking usually requires someone to unload the truck. If they're getting paid anyway, they might as well drive, too. Robots are expensive.
akmalhot t1_j9wkero wrote
Train tracks like.ne corridore and keystone lin can't handle much more freight ....m
Wouldwoodchuck t1_j9tp4vm wrote
Maybe not a good time for this point.
chuckie512 t1_j9ttn6m wrote
Because trucks never crash, right? Or autonomous vehicles?
Gerreth_Gobulcoque t1_j9rxfh7 wrote
I love that all the brightest minds of our generation have been wasted trying to:
A. Sell ads on the internet and
B. re-invent trains but worse
pangaea1972 t1_j9pwked wrote
Here's a link to the story that doesn't require you to cross a picket line.
burritoace t1_j9pjc3e wrote
That shit don't work
mikeyHustle t1_j9q9j3u wrote
Pittsburgh's what, now? Where the hell does this stuff come from?
MorningTimes t1_j9qsg68 wrote
CMU
Hatallica t1_j9tf45m wrote
Smart Engineers are rarely smart product/business strategists. They start with developing a technology and then try to convince prospective customers that it is the cure to their biggest problems. VC seemingly throws some money in hopes that the nerds will develop some IP that they can sell.
Source: CMU grad to converted to Marketing and Product Strategy after working at a spinout startup.
heili t1_j9y9lzj wrote
I had a conversation with a CMU graduate who's pretty fresh out of school. She's absolutely convinced that soon there will be autonomous flying vehicles because the real problem with autonomous vehicles is that the roads are too crowded, and so putting them in the air will fix everything.
Boring_Fly6685 t1_j9u302c wrote
What about the Zamboni?
duker_mf_lincoln t1_j9s30aj wrote
Aurora gunna make us proud - all yinz will see!
Vozegro t1_j9pg490 wrote
Good. Autonomous vehicles are not the way of the future.
uglybushes t1_j9pgp8s wrote
Why not
Vozegro t1_j9pi203 wrote
After $100 billion spent, the technology has hardly improved.
For them to work on a mass scale, the infrastructure in this country needs to be updated to remove inefficiencies and non-standardized vehicle pathways.
Pittsburgh is a prime example of this, we have so many fucked up intersections.
The government has no incentive to fix these, because they’re not a problem for human drivers.
By the time the government would ever spend time and effort, humanity will have probably killed itself off.
We’re never going to get a fully autonomous vehicle society.
babyyodaisamazing98 t1_j9pzpu7 wrote
Hardly improved is a classic acclimation bias. It’s like when people say battery tech hasn’t improved.
The technology has made giant leaps and bounds over the last 20 years.
Blind spot sensors, automatic parking, auto lane changing, automatic emergency braking, and full self driving in geofenced areas are all standard technology now that didn’t exist 15 years ago.
It might not be as far along as some people would like, but it’s made huge progress in a short time.
Vozegro t1_j9q0fzz wrote
Yeah and in the last 5 it has not, despite spending increasing 1000x. No huge progress has been made, just like with batteries. The technology is reaching its plateau.
Volts-2545 t1_j9r6kba wrote
I test FSD systems and promise you that these systems have improved greatly. Just because they’re not ready yet doesn’t mean they are a failure. Just needs another few years to cook. Realistically level 3 systems for highways could already be there if companies prioritized it. Everyone jokes abt tesla but autopilot has been a rock solid lane keep system for half a decade, and has been on sale for years.
uglybushes t1_j9pkd6l wrote
You don’t think autonomous driving tech has improved? Mercedes has a vehicle that takes full responsibility if an accident happens. It’s coming
Vozegro t1_j9pkysr wrote
Mercedes new car is not autonomous at all. Under certain conditions the driver may remove their hands and feet from controlling the car. It’s called “level 3”, and is basically only able to be used on freeways.
The technology isn’t there and doesn’t work. If it did, we’d have car rolling around that have no one inside of them.
There has been minimal growth in the past half decade.
Gladhands t1_j9pz5ur wrote
I have a 3 year old Subaru that does that. Lmao
uglybushes t1_j9pl8us wrote
So they do have level 3? Which is very autonomous. So level 4 and 5 are coming.
Vozegro t1_j9pn1j5 wrote
Level 3 is not autonomous. You sound like you have no idea what you’re talking about. Have a nice life.
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9pmkrx wrote
You're not responding to a single point in the OP's post.
Level 3 is not autonomous, it's basically highway driver assist.
The technology does not work and the people in this sub who were saying a decade ago that self-driving cars would rule the streets by 2020 were wrong.
akmalhot t1_j9pxy2f wrote
but tesla says they have had full self driving autopilot for years! the stock price says its true /s
YIMBYYay t1_j9r6rta wrote
Autonomous, at least in the sense that this company and others are looking to do is purely highway driving, for now. Last mile autonomy is still a long ways off.
Locomotive shutdown because venture capital money is locking up due to interest rate increases. And there are dozens of other companies working in the same space that have better/more advanced tech. Volvo, Mercedes, and others are pouring billions into driverless semis so there’s little need for a CMU startup in Pittsburgh.
pyrojoe121 t1_j9tu4ki wrote
You do realize that companies have fully self driving vehicles without a driver giving rides to paying customers in Arizona and the Bay Area at this very moment? Saying they have hardly made any progress is just laughably wrong.
DrErrl t1_j9qmbc8 wrote
Ya if you think only 100 billion has been spent, you’re grossly underestimating this. You’re incorrect on a whole plethora of levels friend!
Vozegro t1_j9qn5pd wrote
https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/auto-industrys-75b-bet-autonomy-not-paying
I rounded up. You’re wrong.
SayTheLineBart t1_j9pkzd1 wrote
Who says it needs to be “fully” autonomous? I’m sure plenty people who have long highway commutes would still benefit, same with truckers.
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9pmp51 wrote
Acrisure Stadium has an opening for goal post movers, if you're looking for work.
sebileis t1_j9ptt91 wrote
Hah, good one. Take my upvote.
SayTheLineBart t1_j9pnehc wrote
wtf yinz are weird.
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9po7hn wrote
Highway driver assist exists and has been around for a long time.
"Fully" autonomous does not and never will.
Calling driver assist "autonomous driving" just encourages people to nap behind the wheel or jerk off or whatever instead of paying attention.
SayTheLineBart t1_j9pps7u wrote
There are autonomous cars driving the streets of San Francisco today. I have seen the Waymo cars without a driver with my own eyes.
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9prkc9 wrote
Yes, and I'm Master P and this is my Bentley.
SayTheLineBart t1_j9ps6zq wrote
Ok now you’re just being deliberately ignorant.
Here you go: https://waymo.com/
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9psvj0 wrote
I'll believe it when I see these things in autonomous revenue service carrying paid passengers, and not a second beforehand. It's been "right around the corner" for over a decade now, and autonomous vehicle testing has shown that they're far deadlier per 100 million vehicle miles traveled than human drivers are.
SayTheLineBart t1_j9ptagr wrote
Dude, it’s already here. Lol, “Never” didn’t last very long.
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9pttoa wrote
Weird, I just tried to call an autonomous taxi here in Pittsburgh but all the companies developing them went out of business.
If you're a big enough sucker to watch that video and think it means autonomous taxis are ready to go everywhere and anywhere, let me also sell you on another great investment: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/star-citizen
SayTheLineBart t1_j9pu0yf wrote
What was that you said about moving goalposts?
“The technology isn’t accessible to all 8 billion people on Earth, therefore it doesn’t exist and NEVER will!”
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9puahb wrote
You're looking at an easily faked demo video in a controlled setting and claiming that it means that the autonomous taxi is here and in revenue service now.
Like I said, call me when these things are in revenue service carrying paid passengers.
SayTheLineBart t1_j9pus4l wrote
Faked? Ok dude, /r/conspiracy is in need of your service. Watch out for those chemtrails
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9pv5kj wrote
Companies lie about their projects all the time. The entire Nikola hyrogen-powered truck demo was faked.
https://gizmodo.com/electric-truck-maker-nikola-to-pay-125-million-in-sec-1848251455 https://electrek.co/2020/09/14/nikola-nkla-admits-faking-video-driving-prototype-weak-response/
If you can watch that video and conclude from it that it means that self-driving cars are coming to streets everywhere in America any minute, well, there's one of you born every minute.
alexp8771 t1_j9pq240 wrote
Good? Tons of high paying jobs moving back to the west coast as these companies close.
69FunnyNumberGuy420 OP t1_j9pu6jt wrote
The jobs aren't "moving back to the west coast," they were eliminated because the concept is not viable.
akmalhot t1_j9py73b wrote
and where do you think those highly paid engineers are going? prob to a tech hub since pitt seems to be unable to materialize itself as a viable spot despit ehaving many of the advantages that RDU, nashville, texas have outside of tax incentives.
ToonMaster21 t1_j9r67nn wrote
They aren’t going anywhere, if they even live here, because remote work exists for highly paid engineers.
Source: both my wife and I live here and work for companies in other tech hubs.
perioorno t1_j9rair3 wrote
Obviously that's possible . You assume that Pittsburgh is where they want to live .
There's still value to being inside a tech hub.
There's also , you know, beach towns, no tax states, lake houses, mountain houses , NYC, so cal.
ToonMaster21 t1_j9rd7wi wrote
Right. I’m here because of family and our relatively avg COL.
perioorno t1_j9rfik3 wrote
Point is in no way is it good for Pittsburgh, and only potential loss of engineers
They also aren't shuttering completely it's down to the core team
Cries in seed investments
Vozegro t1_j9pzp0n wrote
They never moved here to begin with, remote work is a thing.
RomeoCharlieGolf t1_j9q4mq6 wrote
Back to the west coast with ye
[deleted] t1_j9pkijw wrote
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[deleted] t1_j9r446t wrote
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desolation-of-frog t1_j9rrsj9 wrote
I guess, but I don’t see how you could square that with private vehicle ownership yeah? You’d have to replace all vehicles on the road, and even beyond that you’d need to completely clear the road of any obstacle. Bicycle? Gotta move. Trash can blown by the wind? Quick clear the road! To me this is why it’s a pipe dream. It’s so much effort for what upside? And then you lose the ability to drive yourself anywhere unless the computer allows it: that’s not fun either.
Confident_End_3848 t1_j9plggx wrote
Autonomous driving has been oversold as a viable path. You’d need super high reliability to have an acceptable accident rate given the trillions of miles collectively driven every year.