World's First Self-driving Truck

The problem with any computer is human error... All computers are perfect they do what they are designed to do problem is that humans told them what to do and we all know that all humans have errors.... Lol so if they can take the human error out of the equation then it's possible but I don't see it happening...

Ugh. I hate it when my phone refreshes a page while typing.. Human error. :(

I'll make this super short: A self driven vehicle need not rely on GPS to operate. AI isn't always system based. It can be polymorphic. Your perception is based around ignorance (which is awesome! Learning is fun).

I am probably one of a few posters with a background in software and computer programming.

I'll see if I can't write a post on my laptop, bluetooth it to my phone, and post here. Maybe later this week. :)

AI is one of my most heartfelt inteterests in programming. The AVERAGE pay of 2000 was ~$100,000/year for an ENTRY level position.. That was 15yrs ago. Far more complex than you may assume.

The problem with any computer is human error... All computers are perfect they do what they are designed to do problem is that humans told them what to do and we all know that all humans have errors.... Lol so if they can take the human error out of the equation then it's possible but I don't see it happening...

No it is not the programming........ How many times have you heard of these newer trucks having issues, only to find it was nothing more than a bad ground? I guess you have never had a computer just up and die on you. Yep they do what they are designed to do until you have a hardware failure.

The problem with any computer is human error... All computers are perfect they do what they are designed to do problem is that humans told them what to do and we all know that all humans have errors.... Lol so if they can take the human error out of the equation then it's possible but I don't see it happening...

No it is not the programming........ How many times have you heard of these newer trucks having issues, only to find it was nothing more than a bad ground? I guess you have never had a computer just up and die on you. Yep they do what they are designed to do until you have a hardware failure.

Except hardware failure is near non-existant. GPUs, sound cards, floppy disk readers, etc all still work just fine. Up and over 10 years. My HDD has over 4yrs of ON time logged. That means read/write 24/7. That's with less than 5% sector failures. Pretty much brand new. Plenty of HDDs like that. Smallest one I still have, and don't use, is an old 512MB Western Digital. I also have a ~1GB Fuji. But that one has a real low random R/W rate. And as far as SSDs go: Nothing like they initially thought. 1st gens are still up and running just fine.

The thing is that computers fail

Yeah, but people never do. They're totally reliable 24/7/365, right? They don't get distracted or overly aggressive or make bad decisions, right? Let me tell ya......if I had to choose between relying on a computer or relying on a person there wouldn't be any hesitation as to which I would trust more - computers.

Like I said before, I don't see this becoming a danger for my job in my lifetime. There's just too many details to work out if this is going to be the future

That could have been said for automobiles or airplanes in the early 20th century. In 1910 we could barely get a paper airplane off the ground. Thirty years later we're testing rockets and preparing to put satellites in orbit.

I'm not sure if it's still there, but there was an old truck from the 40's on display in a truck stop in Nebraska. Along with the truck was the original letter, typed by the owner of the truck addressed to the owner of the dealership he purchased it from. It said (to paraphrase):

"I just wanted to tell you how much this truck has helped us. It used to take a team of three horses three days to haul one load of hay to town. Now I can make three trips in one day with my truck."

It was WWII era and people were still replacing horses with trucks.

One final note. The original Space Shuttle, designed in the 50's and 60's and built in the 70's had less computer power originally than an iPhone does today. Things we consider to be science fiction or "Star Trek technology" now will be considered boring or will be in everyone's pocket 20 years from now.

One thing people fail to realize is how much technology we have available that isn't being used because either they can't figure out how to make it economically feasible or someone is holding key patents and won't allow it to be used. It's not about what we're capable of. Technologically speaking we're plenty capable of using drones or automated trucks in our everyday lives. But for every new technology that comes along there are untold numbers of people and corporations whose livelihood and existence rely on the current technologies which would be replaced. They'll simply find ways to stop the use of newer technologies. It's been happening since the beginning of time.

So I agree that a lot of this may not play out in our lifetimes but it certainly isn't because we're not capable of producing the technology. Don't kid yourself. That's not the problem. The problem is making it economically feasible and wrestling control away from the current powerhouses that stand to lose everything if they don't block the new technologies.

Amen.

The same can be said for fuel usage, and hydrogen based engines, or other sources for power.

I think Reading Rainbow, or Bill Nye the Science Guy or Beakman's world showed a 100% solar powered vehicle back in the early '90s (~20 years back).

Personally, I am super excited about stuff like this. Any technology that can make life safer or easier, and actually does, is a good thing in my book. That being said, this stuff won't be replacing a driver behind the wheel for a very long time, and for a very good reason: liability. Someone still has to be accountable for the actions of the machine. Trains run on a closed system, and except for short movements in, say, a rail yard or something like that, they still have a crew on board to make sure that everything runs as designed.

I can see automation coming to shippers/recievers, ship yards ect... fairly quickly. Any environment that you can control with almost absolute certainty (private property), probably can be automated. I have worked in Intel fabrication units that automated 75% of its stocking and shipping departments back in the late 90's. If you can keep the civilians out and employees follow very strict pathing rules these yards can be automated. The only way I see our roads becomming automated is by mandating all vehicles have to be automated and zero civilian (foot) access to the roads. Otherwise very unlikely. The day trucks can drive themselves is the day we no longer need doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians ect... Maybe a good thing :-P

Brett I'm not arguing the fact that we have the technology and know how to make these things possible some day. My whole stance on this is that I'm not going to worry about it because it's going to take an awful long time for these to effect my job.

I've got a brilliant idea. Automated trucks that have a compartment on top of the cab with a helicopter drone in it. When the truck approaches a delivery, it simply stays rolling on the highway while the compartment opens up, the drone takes off and picks up the shipment through an automated sliding door in the roof of the trailer, flies over and delivers it, then meets back up with the truck en route to the next drop. It's foolproof!

Also, if GPS is so accurate, why does the GPS on my phone show that I'm actually parked in the next space over???

The problem with any computer is human error... All computers are perfect they do what they are designed to do problem is that humans told them what to do and we all know that all humans have errors.... Lol so if they can take the human error out of the equation then it's possible but I don't see it happening...

Huhhhh? What bush have you been living under ... ever heard of parity errors, surges, out of bound memory instructions? How about "Windows" blue screen of death? ... all computers are made by humans (as is all of the software) and contains the same imperfect architecture ... no such thing as a "perfect" computer ... not even "Apple" ...

Jopa