Nothing is unhackable... and that is the primary concern of a 100% computer controlled vehicle.  So... solid nope from me.  I have legs, they work and no one can take control of them away from me.

Am I paranoid... no more than the next person... but then, I was on the internet before it was known as the internet.  I've seen so many aspects of the original design get mangled by malicious intent through the years.

When Uber first came around... the first phrase out of my mouth was "that's a great supply chain for a serial killer".

 

4 hours ago, SierraHotel said:

Would you ride in a pilotless electric aircraft?

 

That will come too... Fully autonomous mode for military drones is already a thing. And many electric VTOL aircraft are currently in development and they are being tested without pilots. And yes, some of them are designed to be pilotless. 

Don't underestimate technology. 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 20233 yr by martin-w

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

Don't underestimate technology. 

I can't wait for technology to develop a nutrition pill.  One pill you swallow just before brushing your teeth in the morning and no need to cook breakfast or dinner or eat lunch.  That's a huge time saver.

The joy of eating crab legs at Scoma's at fisherman's wharf or a nice slice or rare prime rib at the Cattle Baron or roasting a Thanksgiving turkey in your own kitchen will become things of the past as more and more technology takes over our lives.

If they can develop technology to it you can bet they will no matter how much joy it takes away from our living.  And you can bet when driverless cars become more common they will outlaw driving yourself.

I'm too old to enjoy driving enjoy driving anymore but I used to.  It was fun.  Sunday afternoon drives with the family were a form of recreation and still are.  It was also fun to spend Saturdays tuning up your car by installing new points and condenser and cleaning or replacing your spark plugs.  Perhaps installing a carburetor kit.  Does anyone here remember what a timing light was used for?  Or what a hot rod was?

Noel  

30 minutes ago, birdguy said:

I can't wait for technology to develop a nutrition pill.  One pill you swallow just before brushing your teeth in the morning and no need to cook breakfast or dinner or eat lunch.  That's a huge time saver.

The joy of eating crab legs at Scoma's at fisherman's wharf or a nice slice or rare prime rib at the Cattle Baron or roasting a Thanksgiving turkey in your own kitchen will become things of the past as more and more technology takes over our lives.

 

I doubt it. We've had advanced tech for a very long time, and its not taken away the things we enjoy, in fact its added things we enjoy, like me just failing at COD DMZ for the one millionth time. 😀 

 

32 minutes ago, birdguy said:

If they can develop technology to it you can bet they will no matter how much joy it takes away from our living.  And you can bet when driverless cars become more common they will outlaw driving yourself.

 

Again, if people enjoy driving, I doubt it. You will be bale to drive manually and the automation will just keep an eye on you to make sure you don't kill yourself or others. Like I said, we have a semblance of that now in cars.

 

34 minutes ago, birdguy said:

It was also fun to spend Saturdays tuning up your car by installing new points and condenser and cleaning or replacing your spark plugs.  Perhaps installing a carburetor kit.  Does anyone here remember what a timing light was used for?

 

Oh yes, I worked on my cars a lot. And that hasn't changed, lots of people still work on their ICE cars, and guess what, electric cars too. Check out Rich Rebuilds on YouTube. 

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

lots of people still work on their ICE cars

Not Many.  On some ICE cars you have to remove the engine to get at anything.  And everything is computer controlled these days.  The first thing they do when you bring your car to a shop these days is hook up a computer.  Just what can you do with electronic ignition and fuel injection?

Back in the day, a tune-up might have involved adjusting valves, re-jetting the carb, possibly rebuilding the carb or changing the distributor cap and rotor. On a modern car, none of that is necessary — and some of it is impossible. What is a tune-up when the tune-up parts no longer even exist?

The cars and trucks of 60 years ago needed a regular tune-up. Everything from ignition points to timing to solid lifters required manual adjustments. Carburetors needed the screws turned a bit, and old-school mechanics could correct ignition timing by listening to the “tune" of the engine as it was running. This all needed to be done at about a 30-35,000-mile interval.

Modern vehicles last longer due to precision machining of the engine parts and the PCM and sensors that precisely control fuel flow, limiting carbon buildup. Go check out the new car lots, and you won't find carburetors, points, cap and rotors — maybe not even spark plug wires.

Yes, technology has eliminated the enjoyment we got working on our cars.  We traded that for more efficient cars.  Bah Humbug!

Noel

7 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

Don’t worry, everyone else will become a social media manager…

Or a "coder".

Dave

On 1/12/2023 at 8:06 AM, dave2013 said:

  As more and more jobs are "outsourced" to robots, where will everyone work in order to make a living? 

If robots can do them, why you need a work in order to make a living?

Don't get fooled by WEIRD, it's only a thing for like a hundred years, not even close to a “norm” for human life style in history.

15 hours ago, birdguy said:

Not Many.  On some ICE cars you have to remove the engine to get at anything.  And everything is computer controlled these days.

 

Nah, you are exaggerating Noel... 😀 Plenty of people work on their cars. Amateur's have been known to plug in their laptops. That's being going on for years. An ECU isn't a mysterious area 51 entity for some experienced amateurs and there's a lot more to a car than just the engines electronics. 😀 Yes, there are some aspects that are best left to a pro with the gear, but there are numerous mechanical parts on an ICE car that are serviceable by an experienced amateur mechanic. I did plenty of jobs on my Mazda CX5 and loads of jobs on the Fiesta I had 3 years prior to that.  It is speculated that amateur mechanics are a dying breed, due to some of the design choices of manufacturers, but there are still plenty out there. 

Check out some of the jobs Rich does on ICE cars, on his YouTube channel. Rich Rebuilds. He's set up a business now, prior it was all DIY work.

 

15 hours ago, birdguy said:

Back in the day, a tune-up might have involved adjusting valves, re-jetting the carb, possibly rebuilding the carb or changing the distributor cap and rotor. On a modern car, none of that is necessary

 

Trust me... there's plenty to do. Grab a copy of the Haynes Manual for a car. Mine got plenty of use and had very dirty pages. Haynes Manuals and car mechanic magazines don't exist for nothing. Haynes Manuals contain servicing guidance, (videos available) technical drawings, wiring diagrams, step by step instructions for jobs, DIY tutorials, and even fault code lookup's. The DIY electronic diagnostic module is very useful, plug your device into the OBD and away you go. 

 

15 hours ago, birdguy said:

Yes, technology has eliminated the enjoyment we got working on our cars

 

 No it hasn't I literally did it till recently. 🙄

Edited January 13, 20233 yr by martin-w

6 hours ago, martin-w said:

but there are numerous mechanical parts on an ICE car that are serviceable by an experienced amateur mechanic.

What are they?  Changing the spark plugs if you can get at them?

Noel

Edited January 13, 20233 yr by birdguy

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

What are they

 

Last job I did was discs and pads. Prior to that I recall it was a central locking issue.

Suspension, transmission, wiring, most annual servicing items, amateurs tackle all manner of jobs. Some years back I did cam belts etc. 

Edited January 13, 20233 yr by martin-w

OK, guys!  Let's not turn this into a "Click and Clack" car maintenance topic.  Continue on with Driverless Vehicles.

This link provides everything you need to know about driverless cars...pros and cons.  Having read it through I don't believe driverless cars will become common in my lifetime.  Certainly not completely autonomous driverless cars.

One interesting point was the power required by the driverless car computer would seriously affect the range of electric cars.  So they will be limited to ICE and hybrids in the near term.

https://lemberglaw.com/are-driverless-cars-safe

Noel

13 hours ago, birdguy said:

One interesting point was the power required by the driverless car computer would seriously affect the range of electric cars.  So they will be limited to ICE and hybrids in the near term.

 

I don't buy that to be honest. The link in your article suggests that full blown autonomous vehicles would use 10% more power. However... that's not taking into consideration efficiency improvements in hardware. In addition, it's not accounting for the big impact of driving style. Most people don't drive with an efficient technique and it's estimated that an autonomous vehicles more efficient driving style could save up to 20% of battery power.

As for when we will see comonplace fully autonomous vehicles, the article you linked to Noel, states "sooner than we think". Given they are actually on the roads now, that's an understatement. Perfected? Certainly not but they are already here. Millions is being spent by a multitude of companies to make it a reality.

Edited January 14, 20233 yr by martin-w

It did great here. Passed cyclists safely, even confidently dealt with a driver doing weird things.

 

 

give it  another  few  more  years

 

Edited January 14, 20233 yr by pete_auau