Who Needs Race Car Drivers?

[porwolf]

500 horse power Audi RS7 on Hockenheim race track without driver:

[Holger]

Like robot wars there will be race-series for cars without drivers soon I am sure.
It is sad to see where we are heading.
I just read an article about the new Passat with lane-assist and such. "You dont need to have you hands on the wheel". WHY? OMG are we getting LAZY!

[motion]

Pretty neat. I wonder how long before they'll be competing for fast lap at the 'ring? Surprised Elon is not all over that.

I also wonder how soon it will be before an autonomous car can out-perform a human driver. Can't be too far off. The progress being made with this tech is really astounding.

[flatbutt]

I for one prefer having drivers involved. The human factor is often the deciding one. But from a safety perspective maybe a race featuring remotely driven cars is better for some? Think full sized RC races.

[Jim Richards]

There's a lot of DC metro area drivers I'd like to be replaced by autonomous "drivers."

[HardDrive]

Did they really need to have some douche calling it like a race?

[GH85Carrera]

There are certainly times I wish I had a autopilot mode for my cars. Drive I-70 between Denver, CO and Salina, KS and you will wish for an autopilot so you could just sleep or watch a movie.

I-40 from Oklahoma City for 900 miles going east is no better.

[David]

I used to think this was the worst idea ever but now with all the distractions and poor driving skills, I think autonomous driving cars will be the only way for human drivers and motorcyclists to safely navigate our roads.

[intakexhaust]

Rumor has it by next year, Google will have 100, two seaters on public roads (California DMV ruling pending). Limited to 25 mph.
These will be of their own exclusivity and not modified Prius or Lexus with safety driver, but true autonomous, sans steering wheel. 100% electric with a 100 mile range.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by motion

I also wonder how soon it will be before an autonomous car can out-perform a human driver. Can't be too far off. The progress being made with this tech is really astounding.

They are already better than any human, especially in aviation.

The accuracy of the auto pilots is incredible: The technology has advanced to the point where six axis gyros that used to be the size of a small suitcase are now card sized...all feeding control inputs ten times faster and with more accuracy than any human.

I managed the development and deployment of the UAS in the two videos below, both for the Marines and Navy. We actually had to "dither" the signal to the bird so it would not hit the exact same spot on the wing during recovery.




Scan Eagle launches to look for pirates by NVNS

[dad911]

I'd like to see a race between a few of the worlds 'best' drivers vs autonomous, driving equal cars.

[motion]

Originally Posted by dad911

I'd like to see a race between a few of the worlds 'best' drivers vs autonomous, driving equal cars.

That would be very interesting. It might reveal advantages of the automated car that drivers could study and learn from in the future, in order to push harder, past what they previously thought was possible. I dunno, maybe simulators already have that capability. When I race a bike, I am not "almost crashing" everywhere on the track, so I know I have plenty of room to go faster. Maybe the pros aren't looking for that extra speed.

[TheMentat]

Something about that video suggests to me that the car was simply running through a pre-recorded lap driven by a human, maybe with some use of technology to correct some tire slippage etc. Particularly the way it taps the brakes a few times into turn 7 (around 2:00). There's also a few times where the steering wheel corrections seem a bit too jerky and "human".