Sue wrote:Well we didn't get a knight rider this week but we still get a new article from Discover Magazine.
I almost laughed out loud at the start of last night’s episode of Knight Rider. Mike Traceur sat in KITT’s driver’s seat, reading a dossier, and watching football as he cruised down some scenic highway—and why not, when he’s got a car that can drive itself. Which is when it hit me: I’ve been writing about Knight Rider for weeks without looking into where we are on the whole self-driving car thing! I mean, a car that drives itself has to come before a talking car in the pantheon of useful technology, right?
So, does anyone else remember back in 2005, when GM announced that they’d have a self-driving car by 2008? The story was everywhere. It was supposed be a modified Opel Vectra that would attain speeds of 60 mph and navigate dense traffic. Well, here we are, 2008, no intelligent Vectra in sight. Where’s our self-driving car, GM? Huh?...
keep reading: "Knight Rider: The self-driving car" at Discover Magazine
In terms of the KR universe, its nothing new, its the 3rd car to have this capability...
In terms of reality I see it as a combination of systems that are already in use and have been for some time....
1 I had a toy electric car 20 years ago that would bump into objects and know that it couldnt go that way
(whats to stop the radar systems that are ALREADY in use for parking sensors from performing the same job? The signal bounces off the object so the car doesnt have to....) The only tweak to the system would be the greater the speed the stronger the signal (so as to bounce off objects further away, AKA "stopping distance")
2 GPS, this is the basis of 'how Ki3t could understand getting from place to place' Point (1) would ALWAYS be observed no matter what...
3 Active cruise control. (speeding and slowing in tandem with the vehicle in front)
4 The 'sat nav'.... When you have one, you program it with your 'home' address and possibly other 'frequently used locations'. Using points 1,2 and 3 why couldnt the car take you there.....?
I admit this post is purely from a 'layman' POV and comments are most definitely welcome...