The Automated Car’s on the way
The new Lexus LS 460’s ability to park itself presents some interesting food for thought.
For one, Toyota generally doesn’t take huge risks in new technology unless they’re darn sure their clientele would support it. That is, they think Lexus buyers want cars that will park themselves. Toyota didn’t get where they’re at by being wrong.
Take this concept of automobile automation a few large steps forward, and we have the mythical Automated Highway, where the cars drive themselves within inches of each other. No rubber necking (hard to rubber neck when 1, the machine is driving and 2, there are no accidents!). No swerving back and forth between lanes, no left lane hogs…transportation Nirvana! We already have active cruise control, so the “automated parking” geegaw isn’t the first step along this path.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes out, as full blown automation is certainly coming. On the one side you have the advancing technology as mentioned above, and on the other we have the increasing preoccupation with stuffing as much “productivity” into our days as humanly possible, leading to the multitude of things done in moving vehicles that have nothing to do with driving, and a seemingly increasing disintrest in the act of driving itself. The Lexus parking system still tasks the “driver” with operating the pedals, so it’s not actually fully automated; but be assured that’s coming (it can already tell you you’re going too fast, you stupid human).
Additionally, many people simply don’t want to drive. We all (I’m sure) know people who for various reasons don’t drive at night or in the rain and snow. We all (I’m sure) know people that *shouldn’t* be driving…anywhere, at any time. Automated highways would also be popular with those who seem to have issues with keeping up with the speed of traffic.
The transportation industry would love it; nonstop unmanned trucks who don’t need rest periods, hurtling along on dedicated high speed lanes.
As huge as those implications are, the underbelly could be considered rather frightening. Imagine if the power grid were to go down? Do the cars just stop or careen out of control? How many failsafes do you include and what happens when a virus infection occurs?
How much will all this cost? From the infrastructure to the simple act of maintaining one of these creatures, this isn’t something a mobile cold patch unit or a Jiffy Lube is going to be able to handle. What about people who can’t afford something like this? Does this shrink the middle class even more (assuming, of course, there still is one when this all comes to pass)?
The next leap (for it’s much more than a step) would be automated surface roads. This obviously is a lot more complicated as you introduce an amazing number of variables here that don’t exist on the Interstates, and you need a *much* smarter vehicle. But if we now have vehicles with active cruise control that can slow themselves automatically, and you have a car that can steer into a parallel parking spot all by itself, how is the fully automated car unrealistic?
It’s just a matter of time.
Enjoy your drive :)
The roads must roll ;)
I would love to hava an automated car and turn off the auto pilot in the middle of an automated high way and see what happens
LOL
Ah yes, to err is human, to really screw it up takes a computer.
That said, I think avionics show that automation can work with proper care and attention. Likewise I don’t think many people would be as good at spark control as your engine computer.
Sure, but where is the challenge to do it right, and do your best. Computers are on the verge of taking over the world. Is this the society that we truly seek? Artificial intelligence making your life for you? I happen, even to this day, after many years, like to drive. And I am pretty darn good at it, thank you. I will park my own car, if you don’t mind. And if someone can’t then perhaps they should be on some form of public transportation. Save the environment as well.
Well, you’re right about that, though public transportation simply doesn’t exist in most parts of the country. as for the rest of your comment, I can’t help but think people said that when they came out with automatic chokes… though I know what you’re saying. I’m more concerned about the pernicious pervasiveness of video screens and cellphones.
Well automatic chokes were a marvel! No one wrung their hands in the way you might now. Technology is overwhelming us at every juncture. That which is new today is completely obsolete within days. It is a concern because it is getting beyond the comprehension of people to grasp it’s significance. Unlike an automatic choke that people understood, even if not the mechanical part, they grasped what it would do for them. It is a worrisome thing. Like you, I wonder where the newness stops and the takeover begins, affecting the mind, and thus the thought processes of the individuals.
And about public transportation, in places where it does exist, it is hardly handy nor attrative to use. I would like nothing better (after having spent some summers driving part time on those great busses) than to be able to connect directly with a bus, and let someone else drive me to and from work! My grandson and I love the Disney World Monorail system, and I would like to see something like that start to connect all areas. Many of the Disney cars have gone over 2 million miles! Imagine. And that is based on something that the fertile mind of Walt Disney introduced in 1960!! Yes, 1960! We didn’t plan well enough to include public transportation in large areas of the country. Our intercity bus system is now down to Greyhound, and Amtrak, if you don’t like to fly. But to get to Disney world to my house or vice versa, there is no means for me, unless I drive several miles to try to catch a city bus. Then I have to ride over an hour to get to downtown, and then another hour and a half to get to WDW. Not convenient nor pleasant. Shame. We can and should do better.
People did plan and it did exist - you may recall GM, Ford, Firestone, and Goodyear together eliminated them all.
I’ve been hearing about the automated cars and highways ever since I was a kid in the 1960’s. The articles in the magazines were always saying “by the year 2000″ this or that would happen. So far, no flying cars either. For the fact that it has not happened yet, I am grateful. I think technology has gotten to be much like the Industrial Revolution in the 1850’s when people were overwhelmed by automation and the fear it generated of being replaced by a machine. I think the fear was well placed but possibly for different reasons, the first among them being that technology will turn the majority of people into passive spectators instead of being involved in life. Where is the need to strive for something better? Maybe I’ve watched too much Star Trek, but I’m inclined to think that civilisations that forget what technology is for tend to collapse. I’m all for technology that serves as tools that enable human beings to reach for something greater, but the pace of change is outstripping the ability of people to keep up with it. I find myself agreeing with a great many of Curtis Redgap’s comments. (the automatic choke, hydraulic brakes and the Chrysler electronic ignition were three of my favourite improvements to cars that made sense.) The original Star Trek took up this idea with the episode called the Ultimate Computer which explored the limits of automation and where we fit into that expressing in the 1960’s the same worries about technology that we are today.
As for public transportation, Dave is spot on. Lexington,KY had a great interurban rail system that not only got you around town but also took you to nearby communities. Worked beautifully until the 1930’s when the above named eliminated it. Had it still been in place, I wouldn’t need to drive my car to work. I can walk to work faster than the bus system can get me there.
Cars that can park themselves? No thanks. I see everyday what happens when technology wears out and fails or has one of those famous “computer glitches”
If automated driving technology and smart highways completely relieve us of the act of driving will we be absolved of the responsibility to not drink and drive? If the vision coems to fruition why not hop in the back seat of your car for cocktails on the way home?