[Nfbmo] FW: [Nfb-rdcomm] FW: Google Alert - autonomous vehicles

Thu Oct 27 15:44:37 UTC 2011

Hi Fred.  These are good questions.  At this point we certainly don't know
the cost of this technology, but since transportation is a major barrier to
employment, it is very likely that anybody who is sincerely interested in
some kind of employment will be able to get assistance in the purchase of
one of these vehicles through VR or other grants.

When you ask about a blown fuse, the same question applies to airplanes.
What you end up needing is a system that has built-in redundancy.  Generally
when the public thinks about relying on the computer, they immediately see
the blue screen of death and think, what would this mean if the computer
doing my word processing was instead driving my car.  In many cases where
system reliability is required, there are multiple computers connected to
different power circuitry and sometimes even multiple lines to important
controls.  Certainly this will have to be part of the redundancy testing
that Google does before these cars are licensed to be on the road.  It won't
be of much help to have a sighted and presumably capable driver as a backup
if one is taking advantage of the car's ability to drive itself and so is
talking on the phone, writing a document, or looking to the backseat to
resolve a dispute among children.  It will be nice to be able to drive for
the sighted, but I don't think these cars will be licensed until they are
fully capable of bringing themselves to a safe stop should problems occur.

There is, of course, a lot of speculation in what I'm writing.  No rehab
agency has yet authorized the purchase of a car because there is no car out
there to purchase.  I have heard that the state of Nevada is looking into
licensing these vehicles, but mostly state law doesn't make any provision
for vehicles that can drive themselves or that can be driven without vision.
Still, the idea that these will be available by 2020 seems quite ambitious
to me but not at all beyond possibility.  I guess we'll all have to go along
for the ride and see what the future brings.

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of fred olver
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:31 AM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] FW: [Nfb-rdcomm] FW: Google Alert - autonomous vehicles

Gary, I am truly in awe of these cars, however I am curious as to what the 
cost will be, and how will the 70% of unemployed blind folks be able to 
afford them, let alone the insurance cost for these vehicles. And let's not 
forget the possibility of a blown fuse and the system going down, what does 
one do then?

Fred Olver
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Wunder" <GWunder at earthlink.net>
To: "nfbmo list" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:25 AM
Subject: [Nfbmo] FW: [Nfb-rdcomm] FW: Google Alert - autonomous vehicles

>I thought some of you want be interested in these articles about vehicles
> able to drive themselves.
>
> Gary
>
> From: Google Alerts [mailto:googlealerts-noreply at google.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 5:08 PM
> To: Jaquiss, Robert
> Subject: Google Alert - autonomous vehicles
>
>
>
>
>
> News
>
> 5 new results for autonomous vehicles
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,23950
>
49,00.asp&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoATAAOABAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknw
> lV0&usg=AFQjCNHEM5EP14vEfdihbt3bgXwIj9Y2-w> Google's Self-Driving Car
> Challenge: 1 Million Miles, By Itself
> PC Magazine
> (Google has also released videos of its autonomous vehicles in action.)
> Driver intervention, however, could be something as innocuous as tapping 
> the
> brakes or steering to avoid a wandering squirrel. To make an autonomous 
> car
> a mainstream product, ...
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://news.google.com/news/story%3Fncl%3D
>
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395049,00.asp%26hl%3Den%26geo%3Dus&ct=
>
ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoBjAAOABAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AFQjC
> NHzRig7CNF72JOjETdvFcRCaDKLmg> See all stories on this topic >
>
>
>
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/10/20/
>
google-unveils-driverless-car-tech/&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoATABOAFAp5uC9QRIAV
> AAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AFQjCNE_D72eFg7_jAVhtSZSWqnaMD--Fg> 
> Google
> Unveils Driverless Car Tech
> Fox News
> The website's co-founder Sergey Brin announced Wednesday that 10 percent 
> of
> the company is working on innovative projects outside the web domain --  
> the
> first of which is the building of "autonomous" cars. The driverless
> vehicles, which travel through ...
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://news.google.com/news/story%3Fncl%3D
>
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/10/20/google-unveils-driverless-car-tech
>
/%26hl%3Den%26geo%3Dus&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoBjABOAFAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVV
> T&cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AFQjCNFoG3t8W6L7u1hKgd2WMHlkJ42d4g> See all stories 
> on
> this topic >
>
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/10/20/
>
google-unveils-driverless-car-tech/&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoAjABOAFAp5uC9QRIAV
> AAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AFQjCNE_D72eFg7_jAVhtSZSWqnaMD--Fg>
> Fox
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/10/20/
>
google-unveils-driverless-car-tech/&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoAzABOAFAp5uC9QRIAV
> AAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AFQjCNE_D72eFg7_jAVhtSZSWqnaMD--Fg> News
>
>
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/234464/2011
>
1020/general-motors-says-driverless-cars-are-coming-by-2020-au-ibtimes-com-i
>
btimesau-ibtimes-com-au.htm&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoATACOAJAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBW
> VuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AFQjCNG4lHJPBeK-o4pi9CH8RczZlPARZw> General 
> Motors
> says Driverless Cars are Coming by 2020
> International Business Times AU
> The announcement is a bold statement from GM, and a clear signal of its
> intention to be a leader in the production of autonomous cars. It follows
> last week's unveiling of the second-generation Chevrolet EN-V concept - a
> vehicle with the ability to drop ...
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://news.google.com/news/story%3Fncl%3D
>
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/234464/20111020/general-motors-says-driverles
>
s-cars-are-coming-by-2020-au-ibtimes-com-ibtimesau-ibtimes-com-au.htm%26hl%3
>
Den%26geo%3Dus&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoBjACOAJAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6IL
> IbknwlV0&usg=AFQjCNHRI0-Lq6trQGiOK7ZfQ-OT_3BVaw> See all stories on this
> topic >
>
>
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2011/10/20/t
>
he-social-network-for-cars-national-tests-afoot-for-wireless-collision-avoid
>
ance-system/&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoATADOANAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIb
> knwlV0&usg=AFQjCNEwHR6gLolz0SgI9v_R7yPDCObRMQ> The Social Network for 
> Cars:
> National Tests Afoot for Wireless Collision ...
> Xconomy
> But advances in GPS location technologies, wireless communications, 
> sensors,
> hardware, and algorithms are enabling smarter, better-connected vehicles 
> to
> be tested on a bigger scale. And recent breakthroughs such as autonomous
> road-racing vehicles and ...
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://news.google.com/news/story%3Fncl%3D
>
http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2011/10/20/the-social-network-for-cars-nationa
>
l-tests-afoot-for-wireless-collision-avoidance-system/%26hl%3Den%26geo%3Dus&
>
ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoBjADOANAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AF
> QjCNHU1wWMqkxVHK0HdR9xk9W-fhA1DQ> See all stories on this topic >
>
>
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/vi
>
deo-robot-tank-bombs/&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoATAEOARAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT
> &cd=6ILIbknwlV0&usg=AFQjCNFZhVbs-7rnKWv3sxUFVwBFvH28Lw> Exclusive Video:
> Robot Mini-Tank Battles Homemade Bombs
> Wired News (blog)
> It's used a lot of ground robots at war - not always with good results - 
> and
> may not see the need for an autonomous mini-tank. The Acer's origins start
> in 2003 with a forgotten Army program called the Robotic Combat Support
> System. ...
>
>
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://news.google.com/news/story%3Fncl%3D
>
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/video-robot-tank-bombs/%26hl%3Den%26
>
geo%3Dus&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgAIAAoBjAEOARAp5uC9QRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=6ILIbknwl
> V0&usg=AFQjCNEClgPZ4iSAF1z-baDdFOp8lM-D9g> See all stories on this topic >
>
>
>
>  _____
>
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>
> Delete
>
<http://www.google.com/alerts/remove?hl=en&gl=us&source=alertsmail&s=AB2Xq4j
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> Create
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