On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 14:28:13 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 10/10/2017 12:49 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 9 Oct 2017 11:20:58 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On Sunday, October 8, 2017 at 11:32:54 PM UTC-4, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Now, back to my question. How much are you willing to relinquish for
the privilege of riding your bicycle on the driverless highway of the
future? Are you ready for robo-bike?

I'm not willing to relinquish my right to travel by bicycle.
- Frank Krygowski

I didn't say you couldn't ride your bicycle. I said that you couldn't
ride if safely on the highway of the future. At worst, all it would
require is that you carry or attach several thousand(?) dollars in
technology so that the driverless vehicles would be able to detect and
avoid hitting you on your bicycle.

I just don't expect that situation to arise. Again, I doubt most streets
will see any infrastructure changes at all, simply because the cost
would be almost infinite. There are too many streets to retrofit. So the
capability will almost entirely be built into the cars.

It certainly will take a long time to add navigation aids to the
streets, roads, and highways, but the cost is not infinite if spread
over a fairly long period. 40 years ago, when I first moved into the
area, we had one defective traffic light on Hwy 9. Today, we have 5
signal lights and several push button pedestrian crosswalks. The cost
of the added signals were about $150,000 each. However, without
proper justification, none would have been built. Unfortunately, the
only justification that could get the attention of the State was to
kill off a few kids at each intersection, thus justifying the
expenditure in the name of safety. My guess(tm) is that the streets
with the most driverless vehicle accidents and fatalities, will be the
first to be retrofitted with navigation and recognition aids. It may
be 50 years before all the streets are modernized, but like wheel
chair ramps at intersection, pedestrian walk buttons, signal lights
everywhere, computerized traffic management, and emergency vehicle
bypass, upgrades will happen.

Those working on the cars know that they must detect pedestrians,
including kids on bikes. I can't imagine a social environment that would
allow laws requiring several thousand dollars of equipment on a $99
Wal-mart kids bike. So bikes will have to be detected by other means.

My guess(tm), is I can build a mm wave transponder for about $20.
Retail cost would be about $70. If the design is standardized and the
quantities sufficiently large, it would cost much less. If that's
unacceptable, I mentioned a pattern or word printed on clothes or a
striker that would help the driverless car recognize pedestrians. Last
resort might be an LED flashlight, that transmits a flashing pattern
that the vehicle recognizes as "don't run over me".

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558