Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Google Cars

Google wants to 2016 to be the year of the car. Full Auto week, Detroit and a week after the news of CES Google has explained how it was their vehicles without a driver last year.

Responsible for this innovation, Chris Urmson, has published a document explaining the details of the movement of the car. Exhibits that they have already traveled 1.3 million miles in traffic open, shared with human drivers and three million more per day only with simulators to reinforce learning of their artificial intelligence system.


Despite the positive tone of the official message, DMV, the body that regulates the traffic, equivalent to the General Directorate of traffic in Spain, is obliged to document and publish all these experimental vehicle-related incidents.

Official figures show a total of 341 failures that forced to disconnect the autopilot: 272 were technical errors and 13 of them avoided an accident thanks to the intervention of a human driver.


"The human drive worse than machines"
The bumpy debut of Google driverless car
Car without a driver from Google, both without steering wheel (the two-seater nicknamed as 'koala') with him, has a warning system. In case of lost communication via the Internet, of a sensor failure, or problems in the direction, the motor or the brakes, it warns the driver so that it takes control of the car. According to the information from Google, average human reaction is 0.8 seconds since jump alarm.

Commitment to this type of transport is one of the priorities of Google. It is fact that the change of venue for its annual Conference, I/o, traditionally at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, to its headquarters in Mountain View, much more uncomfortable for the audience, is due to the need of having a closed space to show what's new with their cars, make tests and demonstrations. Much more complicated with real traffic in a business center.

The search engine is not the only firm that investigates this alternative transportation. Tesla, Nissan and Mercedes also have to publish their experiences in a public way. While those of Elon Musk argue that they have not had problems that his experiment, by now limited to changing lanes on highways, Nissan admits that the autopilot disconnected 405 times. Mercedes indicates in detail problems and situations. They don't blush confess that their cars left the automatic 1,051 times in only 2,700 kilometers. 502 times it was due to a technical failure. The other decision of the driver who literally "felt uncomfortable". All these reports belong to tests in real traffic in California, almost always in the vicinity of Palo Alto, or the 101 Highway, which links the heart of Silicon Valley to San Francisco.
google cars
The failures of the first tests with autonomous cars have not been a deterrent. On the contrary. The Obama administration has just unveiled a plan through Anthony Foxx, the Secretary of transportation, to support the development of the car without a driver with a Fund of $ 4,000 million dedicated to the research of security measures so that these vehicles are a reality on the road in less than 10 years.

The announcement took place during the fair of Detroit, the most important annual event in the world of motor motor. The funds will be within the federal budget of 2017. According to Reuters, the Secretary Foxx has detailed the priority will be to develop needs to make sure its running naturally. It held its position before representatives of Ford and Google, two companies that will surely benefit out of this measure: "we think that there is great potential to save lives, reduce gas emissions and transforming the disabled Americans. "What we do now, and in the next months will be just the beginning of the road that will follow the manufacturers, official agency and consumers".

Mark Rosekind, responsible for the State Highway system, present at the event, explained that Iran gradually changing permissions to these cars can roll on different spaces. "We know that 94% of fatal accidents have to do with human errors. We have to put everything in our power to accelerate the adoption of these cars. We will work with the State, industry and innovators who come to give options. We want to keep the current security, as these cars are added. Safety is our priority."

According to the revealed plan, in the first six months of this year the Government deploy a series of recommendations to manufacturers, which serve as frameworks. Then will come the turn of engineering. Foxx asked the manufacturers to consult them, to share data. He gave as an example the case of BMW and the channels that continued to develop its system of remote parking.

The release envelope this announcement underscores the interest to find ways to move safer "including those which are designed without a human driver".

What is not so clear is what will be the rules for the whole country, what incentives will the Administration, in which cases and how. It is not known the position of insurance companies. Expected that these doubts disclose throughout the year.