[nfb-talk] A Vehicle That Would Drive It Self

Tue Oct 30 22:47:37 CDT 2007

Oh I hope I am still living to see this happen.
Especially traveling in Montana takes forever.
Six to eight hours by buss.
How does it work for distance?
Thanks for sharing.
Keep me posted please?

--Dar
www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
Every Saint has a past
Every Sinner has a future

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 3:43 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A Vehicle That Would Drive It Self

> Dear dmgina,
>
> The computer and on-board navigation system and sensors will use several
> different methods for detecting people and other vehicles and objects.
> There are such things as Doppler radar that can detect and track both 
> moving
> and stationary objects even as small as insects.  It is this same kind of
> radar that is used by the NAVY for their close in defense systems where a
> special cannon that fires shells at over 6,000 rounds a minute is used to
> both track the in coming target and the out going shells and corrects the
> aim of the shells so that they impact the enemy target to destroy it.
> This same system can also track people and cars.  Hopefully, the same 
> system
> that makes the shells collide with the target can also be programmed to 
> make
> the vehicle stop or miss colliding with people and other vehicles on the
> road.
> The test vehicles are able to drive the vehicle , day or night, in all 
> kinds
> of weather, without lights and over paved unpaved roads and streets as 
> well
> as across open country side where there is no road or path to follow.
> The computer on the vehicle, along with its sensors, uses A.I. technology 
> to
> think and reason out what it must do to get where it needs to go and how 
> it
> must get there without running over you and your dog or children playing 
> in
> the roadway.
> It must also do it without some human being sitting behind the steering
> wheel and second guessing it or constantly correcting its action and
> decisions.  If it can not do all of this, it isn't worth anything.
>
> Just imagine someday being able to pick up your cell phone and call your 
> own
> car on it.
> The car will know exactly where you are and come to pick you up.  All you
> might have to do is walk out to the curb to meet it.  It will 
> automatically
> know, by rules in its computer, not to climb over the curb, on to the
> sidewalk, but to stay in the street and come to the closest point to you 
> and
> then announce to you it is there and after unlocking the door, make a
> chiming sound so that you can more easily find it at the curb from all of
> the other vehicles.
> Once inside, you would be able to talk to it and tell it where you want to
> go in several different ways.  By address number , G.P.S. location or by a
> directory you have created from places it has taken you to before.
> It would then deliver you to your location and maybe even give you a
> description of the area outside the car so as to orient you to entrances 
> and
> obstructions you may need to go around or steps and ramps you might need 
> to
> use.
> The car would then go and park itself nearby and await your next call or
> that of another family member.
> The possibilities are endless and the freedom and independence it could 
> give
> anyone would be worth a lot, don't you think?
> The private sector will not likely see this vehicle for some time yet.
> There is allot of research and development to be done as yet and the cost
> of the first generation of such vehicles will be high.
> The military has the deepest pockets and the greatest need and will
> therefore lead the way here.
> The commercial sector will be next likely with short and long haul 
> trucking
> and delivery services.  Fed-X and U.P.S. or pizza business may be next 
> with
> automated taxi cabs and buses maybe next and either the private car owner.
> I would say that it could happen in the next twenty years or a little 
> more,
> but it is coming just as sure as the Sun will come up tomorrow.
> It is the next most logical revolution in ground transportation.
>
> David Evans, NFBF
> Nuclear/Aerospace Materials Engineer
> Builder of the Lunar Rovers and the F-117-A Stealth Fighter.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of dmgina
> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 3:47 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A Vehicle That Would Drive It Self
>
> Now I would love to help you out,
> I have questions about this though.
> How would the car or truck know someone was crossing the street, and if
> something went wrong,
> Who jumps in and stops the rolling?
> That would be a huge fear.
>
> --Dar
> www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
> Every Saint has a past
> Every Sinner has a future
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 10:00 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A Vehicle That Would Drive It Self
>
>
>>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> The organization may have voted not to tackle this innovation in
>> transportation technology, but there are those of us who clearly see the
>> advantages and the future of such vehicles.
>> Right here in my own city of Boca Raton Florida, I have a private company
>> that already is in development of a system to drive ARMY two and half ton
>> trucks without a driver on board.
>> In fact, they are working on a system that will allow one soldier/driver
>> to
>> manage a small fleet of such vehicles and have them link up and follow
>> each
>> other over all kinds of ground using new kinds of navigation and sensor
>> systems.
>> The military has a mandate to have one third of all of its vehicles
>> autonomist
>> By 2015.
>> The ARMY needs this because it is facing a growing manpower shortage and
>> the
>> threat level to supply delivery troops is growing with the increasing use
>> of
>> I. E. D.'s.
>> There will be many benefits to this technology as the technology trickles
>> down to the masses.
>> We will see fundamental changes in transportation, both commercially and
>> personally.
>>
>> After the military, the commercial sector will begin using it and then
>> private individuals, which includes the Blind.
>> One of the biggest factors in a blind person being employed and staying
>> employed is or ability to have access to transportation.
>> If in the near future it is possible for long and short haul truckers and
>> taxi drivers to be replaced by robotic cars, it stands to reason that
>> private individuals will want to have them for their personal use also.
>> There are many in our society that can not drive or choose not to drive.
>> I
>> see many people here in Florida, who come from up North where there is
>> excellent Public transportation and have never learned to drive and now
>> either have to learn to drive or depend upon our sad excuse for Public
>> transportation.
>> I know as I work for that system and it still takes me as much as 2.5
>> hours
>> just to get to work at the other side of the county and the same amount 
>> to
>> get back home.
>> Even door-to-door service is based on the time and distance it would take
>> you to get from point "A" to point "B".
>> They can , by law, use this "extra" time to do multi loading of the
>> vehicle.
>> I ask you, how many sighted people who are working, would put up with a
>> daily commute that takes 5 plus hours out of your working day?
>> They would move or get another job somewhere else.  We don't have those
>> kinds of options.
>> Having control over our personal transportation will open doors for us in
>> many ways and place us on a more even footing with our sighted peers.
>> I don't thing that the organization NFB, should get directly involved in
>> this technology as yet.  There are many more things that we need to be
>> spending our money on as an organization.
>> I do think that we as members, should form a group to stay on top of this
>> trend in technology and make sure , where ever we can, that accessibility
>> is
>> thought of and incorporated into it from the get-go.
>> We don't want to face the same situation we face with computer access in
>> always having to play catch up.
>> I would like to be part of this exciting new technology and I hope that
>> others will join with me.
>>
>> David Evans, NFBF
>>
>> Nuclear/Aerospace Materials Engineer
>> Builder of the Lunar Rovers and the F-117-A Stealth Fighter
>>
>>
>> Public transportation is certainly not where it needs to be in this
>> country
>> and for the most part only available in the larger cities where most of
>> the
>> jobs are.  Many times a job , or at least the higher paying jobs,
>> require-----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr
>> Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 9:46 AM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A Vehicle That Would Drive It Self
>>
>> Since the convention firmly decided not to pursue such an objective as
>> this,
>>
>> how is this relevant to us?  Dr. Maurer asked the national convention
>> whether we wanted to have anything to do with it; and, the convention
>> firmly
>>
>> decided against it.
>>
>> Sincerely yours,
>> The Constantly Barefooted,
>> Ray
>> Home phone and fax:
>> (985)853-0139
>> E-mail:
>> rforetjratbellsouthdotnet
>> Skype Name:
>> barefootedray
>> Blog:
>> www.raysworld.blogs.com
>> Podcast .rss Feed:
>> http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray
>>
>> God bless President George W. Bush!
>> God bless our troops!
>> and God bless America
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Michael Bullis" <mabullis at hotmail.com>
>> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 7:06 AM
>> Subject: [nfb-talk] A Vehicle That Would Drive It Self
>>
>>
>>>From today's Washington Post.
>>
>>
>> A Vehicle That Would Drive Itself By:Warren Brown The U.S. military,
>> bedeviled by improvised explosive devices and other deadly ordnance
>> deployed
>> against
>> troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been looking for ways to move 
>> supplies
>> in urban combat zones without unnecessarily exposing soldiers to harm.
>>
>> In pursuit of that goal, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
>> the
>> government group responsible for bringing forth new military tools, has
>> launched
>> a national campaign to develop autonomous driving technology --
>> essentially
>> trucks and other wheeled carriers that can move supplies from one point 
>> to
>> another sans human drivers . . . and without humans operating remote
>> control
>> devices. The vehicles under development must also be able to identify and
>> maneuver around obstacles, safely go around curves and corners, stop and
>> go
>> when appropriate, and self-park. It seems an impossible order to fill. 
>> But
>> 36 advanced automotive technology teams, drawn from industry and higher
>> education and combinations thereof, are hoping to prove to DARPA that 
>> they
>> have
>> the right stuff to carry out the autonomous driving mission. The teams,
>> including one involving General Motors and Carnegie Mellon University, 
>> are
>> participants
>> in the DARPA Urban Challenge, a robotic vehicle race that will be held
>> Saturday at the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif.
>> National
>> qualification
>> trials for the race are being held at the same place this weekend.
>> Competitive vehicles will have to navigate safely through a 60-mile urban
>> area course,
>> replete with merging traffic, stop signs and busy intersections, in six
>> hours or less. But it is not a contest in which the fastest team
>> necessarily
>> wins,
>> said DARPA Director Tony Tether. He said the winner, assuming there is
>> one,
>> will be the team with the best overall performance. Put another way, the
>> winning
>> vehicle will have to behave as well as a driver-education student trying
>> to
>> ace the driver's test, said Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research
>> and
>> development and strategic planning. That means it will have to obey
>> traffic
>> signs, follow the rules of the road," all without a human driver or
>> human-operated
>> remote control, Burns said. I'm excited about this project, more excited
>> about it than almost anything we've done," said Burns, who acknowledged
>> the
>> potential
>> benefits autonomous driving technology has for the military. But if the
>> technology proves out and becomes widely used, it could have enormous
>> environmental
>> and safety benefits in civilian applications, Burns said. For example,
>> elements of autonomous driving technology can be employed to improve 
>> urban
>> traffic
>> flow, thereby reducing traffic congestion and eliminating much of the 
>> fuel
>> waste and air pollution that go along with it. Radar-equipped cars that
>> automatically
>> adjust their speeds and space themselves -- allowing a relatively free
>> flow
>> of traffic through intersections, even without stoplights -- could also
>> reduce
>> traffic collisions and all of the pain, suffering and monetary losses
>> caused
>> by those crashes, Burns said. But he and other proponents of the
>> technology
>> concede that the military probably is more willing to put autonomously
>> driven vehicles into use. The dangers in theaters of war are extreme. If
>> there is
>> a viable technology that can keep soldiers out of harm's way on supply
>> missions, the military wants it. Civilian driver psychology is different.
>> Most people
>> who love driving love it because they feel in control. Even with the
>> proliferation of electronic systems designed to make driving safer and
>> easier, most
>> drivers loathe the idea of turning their vehicle over to computer chips,
>> sensors and algorithms. All of those things are involved in the operation
>> of
>> autonomously
>> driven vehicles such as GM's Urban Challenge entry, an experimental
>> Chevrolet Tahoe SUV called the "Boss," in honor of Charles F. "Boss"
>> Kettering, the
>> founder of GM's research and development division. The "Boss" features a
>> compendium of computer controls for driving, radars, lasers and cameras
>> for
>> situation
>> assessment. Special computer software has been developed to enable the
>> vehicle to drive itself. We are actively developing cars that can drive
>> themselves,
>> and the DARPA Urban Challenges gives us an excellent opportunity to
>> demonstrate our progress," Burns said. Even if GM loses in the contest,
>> "we
>> win," said
>> Burns, who said GM's autonomous driving technology research so far proves
>> that newer, more sensibly applied computer technology can lead to a world
>> "where
>> there are no crashes and very little traffic congestion." Besides, said
>> Burns, "I truly believe that somebody will win this contest. Someone will
>> come
>> out ahead." And that's good because it will push automotive companies to
>> do
>> more research, work out the bugs and perfect the technology, Burns said.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfb-talk mailing list
>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfb-talk mailing list
>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.12/1096 - Release Date:
>> 10/27/2007
>> 11:02 AM
>>
>>
>> No virus found in this outgoing message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.12/1096 - Release Date:
>> 10/27/2007
>> 11:02 AM
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfb-talk mailing list
>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.12/1096 - Release Date:
>> 10/27/2007 11:02 AM
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.12/1096 - Release Date: 
> 10/27/2007
> 11:02 AM
>
>
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.12/1096 - Release Date: 
> 10/27/2007
> 11:02 AM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.12/1098 - Release Date: 
> 10/29/2007 9:28 AM
> 