A2 Autopilot - Self Driving

4markowen

4markowen

A2OC Donor
So in the realms of projects I'd like to do but likely will never get around too.

I came across a video from a guy at ZeroEV where they've got a self driving Smart Roadster and thought, hmm...


Would you like your A2 to drive you around?

I know a lot of people have their A2 for a long commute and it's a cruise control retrofit on steroids and crack, to take that effort out of driving.

The Dev kit is $2k to begin with though and then you'll need to retrofit the sensors you need to the car, front facing radar, etc.

Then you'll need to trust it. The mini roundabout bit in the video raised questions with me...

video link

comma.ai that supplies the brains of it all.
 
Watching the video sections shot from inside the moving cars crystallises my thoughts. I don't have any problem with the idea of adaptive cruise control on a motorway, where I remain engaged with the car and the road but it handles a variable traffic speed for me beneath the limit that I have set. But I don't ever want to abrogate responsibility for major amounts of reaction and input to an automated system. Even worse, one which (like the Tesla on that left-hand bend) could decide that corrective action might be needed but then give up and say 'no, driver you do it'. That's just asking for trouble with delay and over-compensation.
 
As a Tesla Model 3 owner, I can honestly say that full self driving does NOT work in the UK. The basics of speed and lane keeping are great, as are accident avoidance and sign/traffic light recognition.

However, give the car a roundabout, a twisty road of more than 30mph or anything more advanced and it just beeps at you and throws it's AI arms in the air. In America, with it's regular 90 degree turns and grid system, it works great, but here, not a chance.

I'd be happy with a DSG box to be honest.
 
Making a broad sweeping statement about the quality of American drivers, I figured that automated driving and their regular road design would make sense, lowering fatalities. Do they cherish the freedom more to be able to play on their phone whole driving, eat breakfast, do makeup, read, etc. or the freedom to actually do the driving themselves?

Will the coal rolling freedom loving individuals move onto shining lasers at LIDAR systems?

The mini roundabout section of that video gave me cold sweats as the it should have slowed until there were cars at each section waiting for each other to move as is the norm in this country. If it can master that then I'd be more inclined to trust it :)

But I struggle to see cars moving beyond motorway driving. Adaptive cruise and lane keep (only on the motorway VW ID.3...) is all I'd really want from it.
 
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