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Agelbert NOTE: Yeah, sure, A Robotic Semi is "ten years or more away"... Google must be "smokin somethin" or they are just into a "pipe dream" ...
Here's The First Look At Google's Self-Driving Semi Trucks
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Jason Torchinsky
6/27/17 5:55pm
Waymo, Google’s autonomous vehicle division, confirmed that it’s developing self-driving long-haul trucks earlier this month. Now we know what they look like.
We’ve seen other Waymo autonomous rigs on Chrysler Pacificas, and the hardware seen on these big rigs looks quite similar. These pictures were sent to us from an anonymous source and are not official releases from Waymo.
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The truck itself appears to be a Peterbilt 579, most likely equipped with an automatic transmission, because why should Waymo make more work for themselves?
The autonomy equipment appears to be primarily mounted on a roof rack, which houses what seems to be a central LIDAR dome and four ultrasonic sensors, two at each side, covering front and rear. A radar emitter appears to be mounted low and center on the front bumper.
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It’s possible there are additional sensors at the side and rear of the truck, mounted on the trailer, but I can’t confirm that from these pictures.
Long-haul trucking is a likely and obvious place for autonomous vehicles to take hold before they become common as passenger vehicles. The fact that the vehicles tend to be fleet owned, centrally monitored, and used for long highway stretches makes them ideal early adopters.
While many speculate this will cause a lot of job loss for truckers, I suspect there will remain a need to have a human ‘minder’ in the truck to act as a backup and to handle communications, security, refueling, and other duties, at least initially.
If you see this thing out there on the road, send us a tip.
(Additional reporting by Ryan Felton, who’s supposed to be on vacation)
http://jalopnik.com/heres-the-first-look-at-googles-self-driving-semi-truck-1796465587
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Only the law keeps a "safety driver" in this vehicle.
(https://c1cleantechnicacom-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/files/2017/08/Cruise-App-4.png)
Cruise Now Operating Autonomous Taxi Service For Employees In Bay Area
August 9th, 2017 by James Ayre
SNIPPET:
The new employee service, which is dubbed “Cruise Anywhere,” works like pretty much any other on-demand taxi service out there — with the only major difference being that it’s restricted to Cruise employees.
Currently, Cruise Anywhere only works within the mapped areas of San Francisco where the company’s test fleet operates.
At the moment, approximately 10% of Cruise’s San Francisco employees are using Cruise Anywhere, and additional users are being signed up each week. “Employees are even using it as a primary mode of transportation — to and from work, to run errands, or to meet up with friends,” the email Cruise sent to CleanTechnica stated.
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/09/cruise-now-operating-autonomous-taxi-service-employees-bay-area/ (https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/09/cruise-now-operating-autonomous-taxi-service-employees-bay-area/)
Agelbert NOTE: Nice article, but the comments are more revealing of how people out there, like some here (e.g. Luciddreams), do not understand the real reason automated driving is going to be ubiquitous very, very soon. THAT REASON IS CORPORATE PROFIT OVER PEOPLE, otherwise known as CAPITALISM. (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.createaforum.com%2Fgallery%2Frenewablerevolution%2F3-311013200859.png&hash=a7aaaa9f04c1e3e2c948723b5f8c13fe814dacd4) (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pic4ever.com%2Fimages%2F2z6in9g.gif&hash=771b084a0f186d9cc14f31defd98a6c90b69b84f) (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pic4ever.com%2Fimages%2Facigar.gif&hash=dc9dccf92c6c88c99611b06c86d92629d69f2978)
SELECTED COMMMENTS:
agelbert • 15 hours ago
Truck drivers will soon morph to truck baby sitters to nada.
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Alessio Ceroni agelbert • 10 hours ago
Getting completely rid of the driver would mean to decrease the number of times human intervention is needed to 0. There is a big difference between rarely and never.
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agelbert Alessio Ceroni • an hour ago
How big? Commercial airliners all used to have flight engineers. That was over 30 years ago. That's a 33% reduction in manpower in a really complex and expensive means of transportation.
Do you really think a truck baby sitter will be paid the same as a truck driver? And with the police constantly monitoring EXACTLY where all the automated vehicles are, the ony automated vehicles that will actually need a driver supervisor are police vehicles, not for driving, but law rnforcemnt and automated vehicle supervision.
Yes, there is a difference between "nada" and what will be out there. But don't plan your career on truck driving.
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tibi stibi Alessio Ceroni • 10 hours ago
unless you could also baby sit the truck remotely. then there is a more easy way to morph ahead. like this is an easy road i will do it my self so maybe one operator can handle 2 truck or a pool of 20 operators can handle 40 truck. etc...
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Alessio Ceroni tibi stibi • 6 hours ago
Remote operation of vehicles on roads is not allowed now and I don't see how this could change soon.
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agelbert Alessio Ceroni • 14 minutes ago
Alessio, the issue of legallity disappears the instant the corporations can move their goods cheaper without human drivers, which is now the case. They will pay their lackeys in government to change the laws lickety split!
The only reason automated driving has not become common (the software to do that has been around for over two decades) was (but no longer is) the cost of the sensor package.
THAT is what has changed. They are cheap now. They were horrendously expensive before. THAT is what is driving this change, not "safety". The military has had totally automated vehicles for all sorts of activity for decades, but they could afford to fleece we-the-people for their expensive murderous toys.
Profit over people is the Capitalist way, I'm sad to say.
Amazon, UPS and Federal Express do not CARE about how many people will be put out of work.
Hospitals will be able to run ambulances with one less indivdual.
Automated City bus fleets will be run with cameras that monitor the passengers (to call a cop if there is an accident or some disturbance).
The only growth industry here is in added police personnel. Every added cop will probably displace 10 drivers or more.
And we-the-people will be taxed to pay for the increased polce presence, OF COURSE!
The automated driving cost math increases profits for the big boys and screws the paid drivers everywhere. On top of that, there will be less accidents because machines malfunction less often than humans from sleep or inattention (which will be the main propaganda point used to "justify" all the job losses).
But don't expect the car insurance corporations to drop your rates any time soon. Logic is not their thing; profits with lots of double talk is their actuary thing.
In summary, all this means less auto accidents, more convenience for some people (especially the old folks who canot get a driver's license any more) , less driving freedom, less paid drivers, more police presence (for "our own safety, of course" LOL!), more taxes for we-the-people and more profits for the 1%.
The "Brave New World" is HERE. Free Soma coming soon too. Have a nice day.
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Artificial muscle lifts 1,000 times its own weight, brings us closer to humanoid bots
LAST UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2017 AT 1:06 PM BY TIBI PUIU
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The artificial muscle seen here performing biceps motion in order to lift a skeleton’s arm to a 90 degree position. Credit: Aslan Miriyev/Columbia Engineering.
SNIPPET:
Before robots or androids really permeate society, designers have to make them more human-like. This is not only to make them more familiar or less creepy, but also to improve safety. When working side by side on an assembly line or at home, you really don’t want to injure yourself every time you come across a robot’s metal rods. Ideally, robots that interact often with humans ought to be covered in soft, artificial tissue.
Making more dexterous robots
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http://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/artificial-muscle-soft-robotics-423432/
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:D
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AI-powered drones race against human pilots
LAST UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 22ND, 2017 AT 9:40 PM BY TIBI PUIU
https://youtu.be/SrqrGweKQAU
Article:
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/ai-powered-drone-race-0423432/
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Fastest shark on Earth might inspire the next-generation of drones and wind turbines
The tooth-like scales of the mako shark were previously thought to have drag-reducing properties. However, this new study suggests that, in fact, they’re more suited for creating lift ✨. :o
Last updated on February 8th, 2018 at 6:41 pm by Tibi Puiu
SNIPPET:
(https://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kurzflossen-Mako.jpg)
Mako shark 🦈(Isurus oxyrinchus). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Sharks 🦈 are some of nature’s most able swimmers. Now, American researchers have revealed one of the secrets that enable the shortfin mako to swim faster than any other shark on Earth. It’s all in the scales, according to a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Full article:
https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/fastest-scale-design-shark-40542/
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Meet Ocean One: The Humanoid Robot Exploring Our Oceans ...
https://youtu.be/p1HmgP9l4VY
http://www.evolving-science.com/intelligent-machines-robotics-automation-transportation/meet-ocean-one-humanoid-robot-exploring-our
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Volvo’s self-driving 🤖 trucks are ready to start work at a mine in Norway
By Trevor Mogg — Posted on November 26, 2018 10:00PM PST
https://youtu.be/m4wLPfOz-c4
Article with above video: (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Frenewablerevolution.createaforum.com%2Fgallery%2Frenewablerevolution%2F3-130418200416.png&hash=15d789b29124aa5a1f1ea397ce630913734b20a4)
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/volvos-self-driving-trucks-are-ready-to-start-work-at-a-mine-in-norway/
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;D
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SCREW DRIVE RC TANK
https://youtu.be/4a5xbE5WqtA
https://youtu.be/H3n3WQN636o
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I made a Screw Drive RC Tank. It can drive through sand and snow...... Also it can move to the six directions. (https://www.instructables.com/SCREW-DRIVE-RC-TANK/)
Agelbert COMMENT: Amazing invention! (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Frenewablerevolution.createaforum.com%2Fgallery%2Frenewablerevolution%2F1%2F3-120818185037-16412296.gif&hash=c8a4038d309a0f49ca4a7a464f30f9a340049cac) I can imagine a giant version that carries people where the "nails" can individually adjust their lengths to deal with rough terrain. The size and shape of the "foot pad" on the nails could be varried according to the hardness of the terrain it is designed to operate in, from hard ground all the way to swampy mush or even water.
Well done!