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Old October 14th 17, 05:02 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Jeff Liebermann
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Posts: 4,018
Default DRIVERLESS ELECTRIC CARS

On Thu, 12 Oct 2017 11:08:02 -0700 (PDT), Doug Landau
wrote:

On Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 9:09:36 AM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 12 Oct 2017 11:37:08 +0100, Steffo
wrote:

I read an interesting article that sooner or later we will not only use
driveless cars as means of transportation, but also 70% of people will
prefer to live in driveless homes http://tinyurl.com/yangl6pa rather
than buy expensive condos/houses.


Yep. If it moves, is road legal, and can be computerized, it can be
automated to drive itself. Just keep the mobile home moving so that
it never needs to find a parking space. Progress blunders onward.

Just one problem. The road infrastructure that the US built during
the 1930's depression, and again during the cold war, is falling
apart. Roads are designed to last about 25 years and bridges about 50
years. The better built freeways, maybe also 50 years.


? These things change all the time


What things change? The lifetime of roads and freeways?
http://www.concocompanies.com/services/acme-trucking/green-building-techniques/concrete-paving/
"A Federal Highway Administration report ("Service Lives of Highway
Pavements," Public Roads, August 1971) gives the average surface
life of concrete roads as 25 years and asphalt as 15 years.
For city pavements, the vast number of 30 to 50-year-old concrete
streets readily attests to their performance beyond the study
figure of 25 years, while most asphalt streets would be hard
pressed to last for 15 years.
Some randome Googling seems to indicate that the numbers haven't
change in the last 45 years from the aformentioned report.

Caltrans is out there every day widening said freeways and so on


I haven't seen much in the way of major projects. Adding lanes has
certainly helped relieve congestion, but it would take a huge amount
of continuous widening to keep up with the increases in traffic.

The whole
concept of driverless cars assumes the existence and maintenance of
smooth, clean, pot hole free, and safe highways.


Says who?


Me. Watch the videos of the first DARPA autonomous car challenge and
tell me if you would consider riding in one of the off road test cars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a6GrKqOxeU
5 out of 23 managed to finish. Terrain turned out to be a big
problem, so the next challenge was held in an urban environment on
good quality roads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xibwwNVLgg

They already face a number of similar problems such as lanes,
turns, intersections, and traffic. Why should potholes and surface
smoothness be any different or unsolvable?


It's much easier to predict what a vehicle will do on a flat road,
than which direction it will bounce or fly after hitting a pot hole.

By the time
driverless cars are perfected and the Luddites have been exterminated,
the cost of replacing and repairing the highways will probably reach
the crisis point. The car of the future might just be a 4x4 with an
articulated suspension, designed to make it's way over the rubble that
was once our freeway and highway system.


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