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The future of everything


Bhigdog

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The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different. My travel trailer may be an indicator though. It uses smaller gas generator/inverters than anyone thought possible at the turn of the decade to power the AC and is a mix of solar/GC2s/inverter for just about everything else. Cold light that uses fractional watts is just the start.

It does not have a television. It has a 27" 1080 monitor that can connect to DVD/Computer/tuner & my phone can link to the BT sound system. And everything I use is at least three years obsolete.

ps my '12 Jeep gets 17-18 mpg on 87 PON pulling the trailer at 65 mph.

Edited by padgett (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...

It will be interesting how the insurance industry will fit into the autonomous driving plan. Also not sure the OEMs are ready to take on all the risk as no matter what happens, the manufacturer would have to be almost 100% liable for any accident.

It will be quite a while before you will have car that will decide between running over the dog or child in a split second decision not to mention trying to drive on a snow covered road during a snow storm.

There are still plenty of technical challenges that will not be solved in the next 25 years.

Not saying it will never get here but it will come in little steps and focused in certain locations.

 

I can tell you the my nephew's 2015 Tesla already has autonomous driving. It will follow the lanes, stop at stop signs and impressive collision avoidance system in place. Certainly some of what you mentioned is coming, but not in 25 years, closer to 5 or less.

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Oops. Autonomous does have a number of levels or definitions. I should have been more specific - my fault. I was referring to the fully autonomous fleet.

I agree that there are a number of autonomous features that are here or are coming soon. Like the Tesla, the Cadillac CT6 also has lane centering and full range adaptive cruise with collision imminent braking. Others have self parking features. There are a number of these technologies that will improve safety and make driving an easier task as they are rolled out into more affordable models.

My reference was more towards a driverless car with no controls. Not terribly hard to implement in a controlled environment but quite a different story when you open it up to any scenario. Like anticipating the hay bale that is about to fall off the truck in front of me or glimpsing the child running after the ball between a couple of parked cars.

I'm just glad that Rusty gets his flying car soon.

Scott

Edited by Stude Light (see edit history)
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The Future of Everything, Now that is a loaded statement. In the distant future our Sun will become a Red Giant and everything will be incinerated. At that point will any of this matter? I also highly doubt that even if we develop the technology to travel and settle other planets that the cost of taking an ancient auto will be worth it over saving individuals that will insure the longevity of our species. In the near Future, I do believe I'll just have fun preserving and driving whatever I find is fun. Dandy Dave!    

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Driving in West Virginia after a flood had washed out a lot of the valleys I noticed lines painted on the road in flourescent orange paint. Turns out they were where the creek had undercut the road and the only thing on the stream side of the orange line was pavement and about a 6 foot drop. The locals know this - do we really think that any smart car will ? And what will it do in an ice storm when the wheels spin on a grade and the car is going backwards while the wheels are going forwards, or in the 8 to 10 inches of fresh snow we had on the roads for 2 days here recently - no edges, no lines and the traffic lights were filled with snow and not visible (LED saves money but when they have to send a truck around to clean them out so you can see them it is a bit problematic).

 

Great in sunny California - let's try some real world country driving in bad weather before we get too excited about the technology.

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Driving in West Virginia after a flood had washed out a lot of the valleys I noticed lines painted on the road in flourescent orange paint. Turns out they were where the creek had undercut the road and the only thing on the stream side of the orange line was pavement and about a 6 foot drop. The locals know this - do we really think that any smart car will ? And what will it do in an ice storm when the wheels spin on a grade and the car is going backwards while the wheels are going forwards, or in the 8 to 10 inches of fresh snow we had on the roads for 2 days here recently - no edges, no lines and the traffic lights were filled with snow and not visible (LED saves money but when they have to send a truck around to clean them out so you can see them it is a bit problematic).

 

Great in sunny California - let's try some real world country driving in bad weather before we get too excited about the technology.

 

These cars do not solely rely on painted lane markers (in fact very little), they rely on digital location data from many different devices from GPS to magnets embedded in the road surface. Those lines painted by the road crews will be painted in a special color that vehicles of this type will recognize as a "no-go" zone. Traffic lights will have devices that tell the car what they are doing, not visually like out analog eyeballs. GPS will tell the car it's sliding backwards, internal sensors will already know the wheels are spinning and take appropriate action. These cars rely on communication from devises more that "seeing" Certainly not exclusively but in conjunction with.

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And in a mid 50's Popular Science magazine we were told that in 25 years all cars would be powered by a few dollars worth of uranium that woud last a lifetime. Millions of miles of secondary local roads all embedded with magnets when current GPS technology can't even find many roads and locations ? Many areas around the country where GPS is purposefully "set off" for security reasons. I doubt that anyone alive today will see this technology applied outside of a few select locations around the country for the same reasons mass transit only really works well for everyone in a few locations. And at that most people outside of the inner city must drive and park to utilize it. 

Edited by vermontboy (see edit history)
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Heck.......I'd be thrilled to pieces if there was a technology that would automatically actuate TURN SIGNALS........  :blink:

I'd be more thrilled with one that turned them off. Especially the left one............Bob

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