Could A Car Like KITT Exist Today?

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Post by Michael Pajaro » Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:15 pm

Whether or not you trust the government is irrelevant to this thread. This is about the scientific possibilities of creating something like KITT. Even if you don't trust the U.S., there are probably at least 30 other high-tech nations out there doing research and development on computers and A.I. Are they ALL covering up major breakthroughs?

Absence of evidence to the contrary is not proof. (I think I said that right.) It's a useless argument to make.
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Post by ColeGrad01 » Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:27 pm

I doubt there will ever be a car that would seem like KITT. The best it would be where it drives on its own and responds to the driver's demands is what you see on THE SIXTH DAY.

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Post by Benjamin Knight » Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:43 pm

Sometimes I think there all covering up manger break thoughs... Only sometimes.... :shifty: My dad thinks the USA may have a serect moon base, as that was the next step, and then they stopped the moon programs... :shifty: lol He isn't really sure, just thinks it is possilbe, very possible...

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Post by ColeGrad01 » Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:33 pm

Getting off topic here, but as a reply to what you said Ben, you mean colonization up in space? Like how we think we'll have lunar leisure living?

The modern TIME MACHINE movie says we'll have something like that going on in the year 2030. But to make it into the story it's meant to be, they acted like that would be overdoing technology and we would pay a major consequence that would tremble the entire human race.

Like when Dr. Alexander Hartdegan arrives in 2030 (where he meets the hologram Vox NY-114), sees the screen talking about how the future has finally arrived and now a nice, peaceful life can be established up in the moon. You can get away from all the problems down on Earth.

But as he travels further ahead after having his conversation with Vox (Orlando Jones), he ends up in the year 2037 to see that civilization is being wiped out. According to what two soldiers trying to take him away say, they explain to him the colonization project was more than they thought. It had a major problem that caused the moon to break apart and just totally screwed up the Earth's orbit. That's what Dr. Hartdegan (Guy Pearce) sees before he gets out of there and goes even further ahead to find out the human race has evolved into a new species.

So if they have a secret moon base set up as you have mentioned Ben, let's hope nothing goes wrong up there. I know, it was just a movie causing something to happen so it could get to the story everyone knows.

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Post by Michael Pajaro » Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:57 pm

http://www.eventsounds.com/wav/argh.wav

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Post by MKnightRider82 » Thu Nov 20, 2003 8:11 pm

You okay Mr. Pajaro? By the way, how do you insert a link where it will go right into the Media Player?

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Post by KIRX » Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:03 pm

Getting back to the point...

I think Star Trek is a good example. Today, we don't have starships with warp drive. But the communicator is an everyday gadget - the ones on the show are absolutely clunky compared to a modern cell phone. Right down to the flip-up action.

There will probably never be a car just like KITT. But some - not all - of the technology will become real. Some already has - dashboard navigation systems, for example. I use one in my work car every day, and it's saved my butt many times. High speeds? Most cars out of Germany these days have a voluntary 155mph speed limiter. Without it, most would probably be in the 160-190 range - stock from the factory. Heck, a modified Saturn Ion just set a new class speed record on the Bonneville salt flats - over 200mph, in a Saturn!

MBS? There are a few bulletproof cars today, though of the heavy armored variety. Maybe some kind of carbon fiber/kevlar body would work...

Turbo boost? You'd need to fit some rather small, VERY powerful jets or rockets into a car to make it do the jumps KITT does. Probably won't happen (as much as I'd love it to get ahead of slow moving traffic).

Different gadgets are realistic to different degrees. You won't get warp drive, but we've already got communicators. You won't get turbo boost, but we've already got in-car navigation.

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Post by seeker78 » Sat Nov 22, 2003 6:38 pm

Old Man Miles wrote:
Personally I dont (and will never) trust the our (U.S.) gov. For this reason I think that a car like KITT could, and may, exist today. The U.S. gov. covered up Roswell, Keksberg, otherstuff i dont know about, and the Kenedy assasination.
Well, I have to agree with the Army veteran who was in Military Intelligence. I was a submariner in the US Navy myself, a sonar tech (sonar = SOund Navigation And Ranging; Jonsey's job in The Hunt for Red October). In my experience, there are no big secrets. The real secrets are a lot more mundane than aliens. There might be something remotely akin to the MBS out there, but if the Army is doing it, it would be on a tank, not a sentient Trans Am. ;-)

I don't know about the Army's stuff, but our computer technology on submarines is generally about 20 years behind the latest from Intel. When I got out (24 Jan 03) we were just then coming out with a new upgrade to the ship's computer, sonar, etc. that used commercial parts. What we had previously was something designed by IBM in the 1960s. It's because the Navy makes 20 year contracts with companies -- like IT21 for example, replacing all the UNIX stuff with Microsoft products (Red Hat should have tried to get into that contract...).

I pesronally helped replace a power supply that cost the taxpayer US$30,000. A power supply. Can there be any doubt that private electronics and computer technology is far superior?

I seem to recall some private university was doing a project with a minivan that drove itself. A minivan because it took that to store the PCs needed to drive it. It only went like 10 MPH and often drove around shadows. I think eventually we will have cars taht drive themselves and have AI, but probably it will be done by General Motors, not the Army or the Navy...
(There were 3 shooters. Oswald couldnt have fired 3 shots in 7 seconds with a WWII Italian BOLT ACTION sniper rifle. Not even trained U.S. snipers at the tim,e could do that.
Actually modern computer analyses have shown that the Kennedy assasination actually took closer to 8 seconds. I've never fired a WWII Italian bolt action sniper rifle, but I know the M14 and M16 in semi-automatic mode can do that (I am qualified both weapons). Maybe the Army veteran can fill us in on this stuff better. Anyway I don't share your belief in the Kennedy conspiracy, although I do think he was the best President since Lincoln. I guess we don't want to get into politics too much in a Knight Rider group though. :)
did fire the 'magic bullet'.) Ok sry for all that but that just proves why I dont trust out Gov.
Well, I would say there's a man named Donald Rumsfeld who shouldn't be trusted, but the United States of America itself is in my opinion the greatest nation in the history of the world.

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Post by Darknight » Wed Nov 26, 2003 12:27 am

KITT is a possibility that I intend to make a reality. I think people get so caught up in the AI that they forget about the other engineering challenges. Turboboost, MBS and such are nearly as daunting as AI. In fact, some forms of AI are easier to achieve than say, MBS, because supermaterials are still in their infancies, and significant advancements come at a snail's pace in that sector. Information technology, however, is exploding. All I'm saying is that it won't be easy, but someone will build the car that the creators of Knight Rider envisioned, and it might even be superior to that KITT in some ways. Who can say? I hope that person is me.

DK

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Post by knightimmortal » Wed Nov 26, 2003 12:41 am

I think the only reason why people get so caught up in the AI concept, is because to exactly control the forces behind the other engineering feats, to keep it consistent and safe, you need the computational control that the AI delivers. Several of the other engineering feats are in fact possible.

The advances in supermaterials, however does go faster than AI, because there is more call for the supermaterials in military advantage, than there is of AI. There are entire labs set up specifically for the development of 'supermaterials', while most AI labs are housed in University basements.

I truly hope that you do meet your aspirations someday, DK, but I think you have a longer way to go than I think you expect.

That's the trouble with all of it, it sounds great, and you learn a few things that make it possible, but once you get deeper in, you find that there is a long road to go, and the things you trip on are more dangerous than the ones you plot out.

KI

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Post by Darknight » Wed Nov 26, 2003 4:59 pm

I think the AI would certainly make the other technologies work best together. Some people, though, romanticize the AI to the point that they almost forget the rest. Take power production, for example. Who has come close to developing an engine that produces KITT-like power and efficiency, while retaining drivability and dependability? When asked, most people just say, "I'll put a huge V8 in it" or "I'll put a turbine engine in it" but both types of engines fall short of KITT's engine for different reasons. Just making the engine a reality would be an engineering feat.

With MBS, I know the military has spent in the billions by now trying to develop the perfect armor, but even they haven't come very close to real MBS. Though they do R&D continually, the fundamental characteristics of their armor systems haven't changed in quite a while. Even their very best armor plating is both heavier and thicker than MBS by quite a bit and anything lighter doesn't begin to approach MBS-like strength.

Truthfully, I am under no illusions. I don't expect to build KITT in ten years. I doubt if in 25 years I'll have anything equivalent to him, but as a life project, I do hope to succeed eventually, taking what steps I can along the way.

Many of biggest engineering problems, I've been considering since middle school. I won't know if a lot of the solutions I've envisioned will work until I get a chance to put those ideas into practice.

Thanks for wishing me well, though. I'll sure need all the fortune I can get.

DK

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Post by Vchat20 » Fri Nov 28, 2003 12:41 pm

i believe kitt minus mbs minus AI minus every other highly advanced technology is a close reality. self driving is very well possible. as posted by another member right here on this board. a test was run by the Us ogvernment where people in LA had self driving vehicles that drove themselves all the way to Las Vegas. now this isnt 100% perfect, but it does pave the way for this technology. as for the advannced technologies and unifying them into a simple to control interface. a simple GUI could be made to display on one of the video monitors and it could be a touch screen. the AI, i understand is way WAY ahead of its time, but i bet if you worked for a place like IBM or someone who worked in developing AI, you would find that they have far more advanced AI than what you see on the net. not that this is true, but it is highly likely.

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Post by knightimmortal » Fri Nov 28, 2003 2:48 pm

Vchat20 wrote:i believe kitt minus mbs minus AI minus every other highly advanced technology is a close reality.


That would be minus KITT, and that is the general point of most of the points made. Just because the features are emerging does not mean that it is KITT.

Vchat20 wrote: the AI, i understand is way WAY ahead of its time, but i bet if you worked for a place like IBM or someone who worked in developing AI, you would find that they have far more advanced AI than what you see on the net. not that this is true, but it is highly likely.
IBM...no. Honda, yeah. Most technical universities...yeah. Intel...most definitely. What you see on the net isn't AI. It's an expert system. You can find actual AI in several of these places, if you have a high enough clearance.

KI

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