Amazon's Zoox: "The future is for riders."

[davesaddiction]

[sigh]

They may be right, but I sure hope they leave room for those of us who would rather drive...

It is interesting to see these designers' & engineers' "ground-up" take on a fully autonomous EV for a dense urban area, though (bidirectional w/ 4-wheel steering).

https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/14/22173971/zoox-amazon-robotaxi-self-driving-autonomous-vehicle-ride-hailing

https://zoox.com/

[CB]

@davesaddiction You could always do a hack override like when @100percentjake tried to turn the Buick's transmission into a manual with a computer.

[davesaddiction]

The airbag system is pretty wild.

[A Former User]

@davesaddiction said in Amazon's Zoox: "The future is for riders.":

The airbag system is pretty wild.

Read "expensive".

[davesaddiction]

@maximaspeed Yeah, but these would clearly be owned by fleets, not individuals.

[RamblinRover]

redbarchetta.mp3

[davesaddiction]

Paging @phenotyp

[derp]

thank you for your request, prime citizen. due to your conversation history, services have been restricted. please remain in your seat as you are taken to corporate reeducation.

[davesaddiction]

@derpwagon

Prime... prime...

What else is prime...? Oh, right - beef! They've been fattening us up--more fuel for the biodiesel generators for their AI systems!

[Exage03040]

"The future is for riders."

While correct, the answer isn't that frumpy jail cell.

[phenotyp]

@davesaddiction There's gotta be room for both. It's been interesting to see how these companies have come and gone, what they've developed, and what's happened to them over the last few years.
Like Canoo, whose co-founder was the chief designer of BMW's i effort.

And Local Motors's pivot to 3D-printed autonomy, still sorta kicking around:
https://localmotors.com/meet-olli/

No clue what Waymo is up to, these days, but they recently hired on an old friend of mine, so presumably they're still moving toward their own platform. It was fun to watch the koala cars running around my neighborhood back in 2015-6.

[davesaddiction]

@exage03040 Oh, they're coming for you, too...

[davesaddiction]

@phenotyp In your estimation, when do you think we'll see fully autonomous shuttles like this in most major metros (outside of the test zones they're in now)? Five more years? Ten?

[CobraJoe]

@davesaddiction said in Amazon's Zoox: "The future is for riders.":

They may be right, but I sure hope they leave room for those of us who would rather drive...

I really doubt that autonomous vehicles will become the norm anytime soon, even if they were 100% safe tomorrow.

There are far too many people who enjoy the freedom of movement a normal car gives. The fact that the "Get off the grid" type off-road vehicles (and off-road styled vehicles) are so popular right now helps prove that.

[derp]

@cobrajoe said in Amazon's Zoox: "The future is for riders.":

There are far too many people who enjoy the freedom of movement a normal car gives. The fact that the "Get off the grid" type off-road vehicles (and off-road styled vehicles) are so popular right now helps prove that.

tinfoil hat: that's exactly why they're pushing full autonomous vehicles so hard, so they can legislate self-driven vehicles away as another method of control.

[RallyDarkstrike]

.....I'm good thanks.

The airbags are there because they know it will crash a lot...

[ForSweden]

The dream of Morgantown is alive!

[CobraJoe]

@derpwagon said in Amazon's Zoox: "The future is for riders.":

tinfoil hat: that's exactly why they're pushing full autonomous vehicles so hard, so they can legislate self-driven vehicles away as another method of control.

I really don't think it's politicians or corporations pushing for autonomous vehicles, but the market. There's so much excitement out there for autonomous cars, to the point where Tesla sells it as a $10k upgrade and it doesn't even work fully yet.

Now it's a rush to see who can make it first.

But I could imagine a scenario in the future where self-driven cars are seen as "too dangerous" and made illegal, at least in highly populated and highly developed areas. I really don't see this happening everywhere until autonomous systems are good enough to go everywhere, no matter the roads or lack of roads.

And even then, I'm not sure it'll catch on fully, and even if it does, walking and biking and other various personal transportations are still going to exist.

[davesaddiction]

@CobraJoe

Interesting question: are insurance companies working for or against more autonomy?

In the for camp, if they can charge the same/similar, but have many fewer payouts, that'd be win for them.

In the against camp, eventually people would realize they'd need far less insurance, and there'd be lower-cost competitors.

[CobraJoe]

@davesaddiction Tough thing to guess

Less crashes vs more expensive crashes? (Autonomous cars are going to be really expensive, at least at the start).

Also, would a personally owned autonomous car be trustworthy? Repaired by owners or potentially questionable shops... At least a driver can easily adjust their speeds and distances if they know the vehicle has spotty brakes.

[Milky]

@davesaddiction Haven't seen that airbag photo yet! The years packaging/designing that. I cant say but wouldn't even know where to start. These people are good and as a bonus the car looks good. Hope it works out for them.

[StuckMTB]

@milky @davesaddiction that airbag system looks seriously complex and well thought out, a lot like the rest of it. It's maybe not something I'd buy, but that's not the point. I'd happily take one of these as a Lyft to the airport or a cab downtown.

My dream one day is to have a sports car that can drive itself on long highway hauls with me able to take over whenever I choose. Then I can rip it around a track for 4-5 sessions a day for a weekend, then when it's time to pack up, it can drive me home while I catchup on sleep!

[fintail]

Nice covid booth.

[davesaddiction]

@stuckmtb As much as I like driving myself (even on long road trips), there's something very appealing about the idea of getting into your car at night and waking up at your destination 500+ miles away the next morning.

[trivet]

@davesaddiction said in Amazon's Zoox: "The future is for riders.":

the idea of getting into your car at night and waking up at your destination 500+ miles away the next morning.

I've had that nightmare.........