Remember those hand signals you haven't used since you did Cycling Proficiency because you discovered having your hands on the brakes in traffic was more life-preserving than waving at motorists? Better brush up on them if Google's self-driving cars ever make it to the roads.
Matt McFarland of the Washington Post reports that Google has patented a way for its driverless cars to recognise cyclists' hand signals.
Google announced that its car technology could anticipate cyclists' movements from hand signals in this video last year:
Google has now revealed that what its system looks out for is the rider's hands, and it assesses their distance from the rider's head to determine whether it's seeing a left turn signal, a right turn signal or the dropped left hand that designates a stop in North America.
The car figures all this out from data collected by cameras, radar and lidar (the equivalent of radar, but using lasers instead of beams of radio waves) processed by its onboard computer.
Google's patent lists a broad range of things the car could do with the data it accumulates, including learning to better recognise what is and isn't a cyclist and a hand signal.
How Google's driverless car sees a signalling cyclist
That's not to say the system actually does that. Patents are written in a special language all of their own that attempts to encompass all possibilities arising from the technology to protect other ideas the inventor may have. But it hints at what Google's thinking: not just cars that recognise other road users, but that get better at doing so with practice.
For those who like wrapping their brains around patentese, the whole thing is on line: Cyclist hand signal detection by an autonomous vehicle.
The patent doesn't mention whether Google's system will be able to recognise any of the numerous signals cyclists use for "You almost killed me, you idiot," when the car is being driven manually or whether it will then administer suitable chastisement to the driver. But it sounds like it'll learn them quickly enough.
6 thoughts on “Google patent reveals how driverless cars recognise hand signals”
I like the idea of a car
I like the idea of a car learning hand signals so that it can tell the driver off.
Does this mean that sticking
Does this mean that sticking your right arm out will revert to meaning “I am moving to the right”, as opposed to “Yes, please slam your foot into the accelerator and scream two tonnes of metal at high speed in to the slim gap to my right” is seems to currently mean?
Hopefully the Google guys
Hopefully the Google guys will get their system to recognise the more subtle gestures, such as repeated shoulder checks, while moving into primary position – a good indicator that a rider is going to turn right – and one that most drivers will spot (YMMV).
Does this mean we all have to
Does this mean we all have to learn US hand signals if they differ from UK ones? Or will we have to learn special trademarked Google hand signals?
“Does this mean we all have
“Does this mean we all have to learn US hand signals”
majority of US state codes – but don’t think all recommend that to turn right (equivalent to UK left) you signal by raising your LEFT arm vertical palm forward you then turn right – think dates back to car drivers doing hand signals
some guy presumably an American did the equivalent to this in front of me the other day (I was driving) he raised his right arm, I assumed was about to across my path to turn right and slowed but no he swung left, for which here in Victoria, Aus’ no hand signal is required !
Surely if you block the
Surely if you block the space, the car stops? Also they’ll pass with room to spare like the stationary car. I wonder if the drink drive rules apply of your not ‘driving’ the car?