Driver less cars, a step closer?

Cobra

Cobra

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Residents will be able to 'hail' a cab using a phone app and drive to their chosen location as part of a brand new trial taking place in MK.
People in Milton Keynes will be able to book a vehicle using the 'Fetch' app. A car will then be driven by remote control to their location.
Using the app, passengers can then unlock the car and drive the car normally to their destination.

Currently, app trials are taking place in private routes under controlled conditions with the company planning to include public trails in the next 12 months.

SOURCE
 
So, what could possibly go wrong with that... :tumbleweed:
 
They'll never get a robot delivery here on the Isle of Wight. Our roads are so bad that all sensible drivers have 4x4s and the pavements are worse. The last pavement pothole my wheelchair got stuck in was so deep I could hear people speaking with an Australian accent. :crying:
 
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They do occasionally fall over or get stuck on a kerb when crossing the road.
They are "pretty clever" though, I've not heard of one being splattered crossing busy roads.
 
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Anybody see the video on Reddit yesterday of a dog "driving" a Tesla. All kinds of fun. Also, terrifying.
 
I saw one of those robot delivery things in Northampton a while back. It was decidedly stuck at a road junction where there were no crossing lights etc, I was watching for at least 10 minutes from my parked car (waiting for rs) and it just didn't move.
 
lindsay said:
I was watching for at least 10 minutes from my parked car (waiting for rs) and it just didn't move.
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It must be a real issue for busy roads. I've seen them go back and forth a few times while crossing a minor road,
as there are cars on the horizon.
At least here we have pedestrian underpasses, for the busy roads.
 
Will they get nicked for use as bait in ‘Robot Wars’?
 
mj4456 said:
Will they get nicked for use as bait in ‘Robot Wars’?
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LOL they are monitored via cameras and send out a "Distress signal" if tampered with in any way.
I've not yet heard of any being nicked.
But I guess its only a matter of time ..
 
Cobra said:
Residents will be able to 'hail' a cab ...
and drive the car normally to their destination.
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It's not really a cab is it if you have to drive it yourself? I would have thought the main use cases for a cab (taxi) were people who cannot drive or people who are going for a drink
 
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sirch said:
It's not really a cab is it if you have to drive it yourself? I would have thought the main use cases for a cab (taxi) were people who cannot drive or people who are going for a drink
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Of course its only in development, but that's what "we" do here innovate, one step at a time (y)
As per the title its another step closer to driver less cars
 
I was out in my MX5 today and as the roads were quite slippy I played with the throttle and the steering. This was on empty roads of course with not another car in sight and well away from any houses so there was no one else there at all and it was at low speed but enough to get the back end wiggling and slide about a bit. One day any fun like that and the sound of the engine note will be a thing of the distant past. I expect car ownership to go too. Sadly.

I think they'll eventually get there with driverless cars but I'm still convinced that electric cars are going to be a disaster for the planet.
 
Not as much as ICEs have been for 130 or so years. Probably!
 
Cobra said:
Ah yes a bit of opposite lock, great fun in a RWD over 200 BHP car (y)
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I think the days of enjoying driving are limited.

I'm not quite sure how calling up a driverless car will work as I'm pretty sure it'll likely turn up disgusting, smelling of pee pee and/or vomit and festooned with evidence of people... having a god time. I just can't see how it'll work as some people will just take delight in being disgusting and some of the cars will need to be steam cleaned multiple times a day and then there's the question of range so as well as the car being a moving petri dish the battery will be almost flat too.

That's assuming us plebs are allowed such luxuries. I can see a future in which only the virtuous elite will travel and the rest of us will be confined to our villages, a return medieval times for the good of climate change or Covid, take your pick.
 
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Dodgy Dave hails a driverless cab, it arrives and he’s away, cab never to be seen again? Unlikely as I expect protocols will be in place but, possible?
 
woof woof said:
I think the days of enjoying driving are limited.

I'm not quite sure how calling up a driverless car will work as I'm pretty sure it'll likely turn up disgusting, smelling of pee pee and/or vomit and festooned with evidence of people... having a god time. I just can't see how it'll work as some people will just take delight in being disgusting and some of the cars will need to be steam cleaned multiple times a day and then there's the question of range so as well as the car being a moving petri dish the battery will be almost flat too.

That's assuming us plebs are allowed such luxuries. I can see a future in which only the virtuous elite will travel and the rest of us will be confined to our villages, a return medieval times for the good of climate change or Covid, take your pick.
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I think that is pretty much it. One way to tackle the problems of congestion and emissions is to stop mobility. But, that shouldn't be a problem because in their vision of the future we will all be green and self sufficient and happily living in our agrarian society.
 
mj4456 said:
Unlikely as I expect protocols will be in place but, possible?
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I would suggest in an ideal world, 30 seconds after arriving at the programmed destination. a 6 in spike come out of the drivers seat upwards. ...
But in reality I'm sure there will be tracking devices fitted.
 
Cobra said:
I would suggest in an ideal world, 30 seconds after arriving at the programmed destination. a 6 in spike come out of the drivers seat upwards. ...
But in reality I'm sure there will be tracking devices fitted.
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Aha, driverless cab requires no drivers seat, controls enclosed so tamperproof.
 
mj4456 said:
Aha, driverless cab requires no drivers seat
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But I thought we were talking about the "call a cab" ?
Where the recipient does indeed drive ..
mj4456 said:
Dodgy Dave hails a driverless cab, it arrives and he’s away, cab never to be seen again?
Click to expand...
 
Plain Nev said:
...we will all be green and self sufficient and happily living in our agrarian society.
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Those of us still alive, of course. I'm not sure what will happen to the (roughly) 5 billion, who will have to go to allow this to happen...
 
Cobra said:
But I thought we were talking about the "call a cab" ?
Where the recipient does indeed drive ..
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Aye bit confused today, ‘on arrival at destination’ didn’t sink in, but there are times I require to be driven in a cab so couldn’t ‘driverless’ be programmed with my destination from control office and all I have to do is get.
Don’t see it happening soon though, new houses go up so quick sat nav can’t be updated quick enough?
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Those of us still alive, of course. I'm not sure what will happen to the (roughly) 5 billion, who will have to go to allow this to happen...
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Quite. I think there is a mismatch between reality and their expectations. I think it's what they would like, and maybe they are so out of touch that they actually believe it is possible. But meanwhile... in the real world. :D
 
Plain Nev said:
Quite. I think there is a mismatch between reality and their expectations. I think it's what they would like, and maybe they are so out of touch that they actually believe it is possible. But meanwhile... in the real world. :D
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meanwhile, in the real world, we abuse what is left of it as we carry on regardless.
 
Pound Coin said:
meanwhile, in the real world, we abuse what is left of it as we carry on regardless.
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Thank you Greta. But how exactly are we all going to partake in this idyllic pastoral community of theirs? It's just not possible. Even if we had the resources. What about cities? What about everyone having access and them being equally divided? It would be an unprecedented change in lifestyle and the way the country is run. You just know that ain't going to happen.
 
Plain Nev said:
You just know that ain't going to happen.
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Agreed. It won't happen. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the real questions aren't being addressed. Or so it seems anyway.

What plans are being developed for if and when the full effects of climate change hit global populations?
 
That's already happening. (the effects of climate change hitting populations)
The only people that are denying it are either those that stand to make money out of disaster, or those that sit on the beach, commanding the tide to stop.

Plain Nev said:
Thank you Greta. But how exactly are we all going to partake in this idyllic pastoral community of theirs? It's just not possible. Even if we had the resources. What about cities? What about everyone having access and them being equally divided? It would be an unprecedented change in lifestyle and the way the country is run. You just know that ain't going to happen.
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What is your future then?
 
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Soylent Green ;)
 
It must be about time for a remake.
 
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Pound Coin said:
That's already happening. (the effects of climate change hitting populations)
The only people that are denying it are either those that stand to make money out of disaster, or those that sit on the beach, commanding the tide to stop.



What is your future then?
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Death eventually, same as everyone.
 
Nod said:
Death eventually, same as everyone.
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Conversation recorded on a cave wall, circa 19,000 BCE...

"We've got to stop building huts - we're denuding the forests!"
"You could always sleep outside."
"But the wolves will get me!"
"There you go: always problems, whatever you do."
:tumbleweed:
 
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Nod said:
Death eventually, same as everyone.
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Yeah, 'eventually' - it's a good variable

AndrewFlannigan said:
Conversation recorded on a cave wall, circa 19,000 BCE...

"We've got to stop building huts - we're denuding the forests!"
"You could always sleep outside."
"But the wolves will get me!"
"There you go: always problems, whatever you do."
:tumbleweed:
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The knowledge of what we, as a species, are doing to damage life on earth is significantly more advanced than that.
 
s-l400.jpg

Apocryphal date perhaps :cool:
 
Pound Coin said:
What is your future then?
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Chaos! In the future we will be reeling from the total failure of sustainable electrification. There will be riots when people realise that it can't meet our needs. By which time the mechanisms to do anything about it will no longer exist, having been destroyed in a monumental act of folly. Possibly.... ;)
 
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