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Looks like we’ll have some practical experience soon. DPD launching autonomous delivery in Milton Keynes. Currently learning routes according to this.
https://www.lapostegroupe.com/en/news/dpd-uk-to-launch-autonomous-delivery-robots-in-milton
A bit sceptical myself.
Those little robots are kinda cute.
I suspect they’ll have more difficulty from people going and kicking them over, than they’ll get from any collisions, but then they move slow enough and are small enough that collisions are unlikely to be serious.
I still think that
I still think that determining the class of moving object is less important than reliably detecting it. With unpredictable movers such as dogs and children, I’d say that the AI only needs to predict their current trajectory to determine if there’s any need to slow down or change course. The advantage of using AI is that it shouldn’t matter that it’s approaching a sheep lazily munching on the roadside – it should detect the proximity and lack of kerb and slow down appropriately to pass it and if the sheep suddenly makes a run for it, the AI would be able to detect that and react in milliseconds. It’s our slow reactions that mean that we have to have such good predictive models in our heads.
I’d consider that even with decent LIDAR, the AI models will still need to have object persistence and tracking, so if it detects a small child (or large squirrel) on the pavement and then it loses sight of it as it runs behind a parked car, it’d flag it as a possible hazard and reduce speed as necessary until it spots it again or passes the last known location.
I think that Tesla is trying
I think that Tesla is trying to essentially use just cameras and AI to recognise and detect objects whereas other autonomous vehicles use LIDAR which is more expensive, but provides a 3d map of physical objects. I think it’s less important for a vehicle to distinguish between a dog and a pedestrian, but far more important to recognise that there is an object that must not be driven into.
Thoughts and prayers for the elderly drivers who it seems are simultaneously perefectly fine to drive 1.5 tonne of car, but don’t have the mental or physical dexterity to use an app to park it.Changes to coastal car parks after discrimination complaints
https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/changes-coastal-car-parks-after-7577313To be fair, some of those parking machines are terrible. I got stuck the other day when a parking machine was asking for the last three digits of the number plate, but Mrs HawkinsPeter’s car only has two. Turns out it meant the last three letters.
Its a bit OT but can anyone recommend stretching exercises for cyclists?(I went to the physio the other day, and he poked a muscle in my leg and when I yelped he said that wasn’t supposed to hurt and that my legs were too tense…).
I keep meaning to do some regular stretching/Yoga exercises, but never seem to get round to it.
Here’s the Road.cc series: https://road.cc/show/tags/yoga-cyclists/106814
I’ll take that as a trolling reply – those things look absolutely ridiculous, might as well ride around with a couple of pillows sellotaped to the side of my head ?I don’t think they look too bad, but yeah, it wasn’t a helpful reply.
For extra trolling points, have you considered not wearing a helmet? If style is more important to you than the legendary protection provided by bike helmets, then just don’t bother with one – they’re all a bit ant-head-y.
If you feel like raising your
If you feel like raising your budget, you could go for a Hövding inflatable helmet: https://hovding.com/.
It’s a collar device that detects a fall/collision and rapidly inflates, which sounds really cool, but they’re pricey and need to be recharged after use.
Found an article about a
Found an article about a Berlin startup (Swobbee) wanting to introduce a similar idea into Europe: https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/09/berlin-based-swobbee-wants-to-bring-micromobility-battery-swapping-to-europe/
They’re basing the business model on Gogoro in China: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/10/gogoro-launches-battery-swapping-stations-in-china/
I’ve heard of courier
I’ve heard of courier companies (also in Asia – maybe India?) that send out riders on e-mopeds and do a similar swapping of batteries to minimise any down-time. That’s a great idea as the transit hub can have all the specialist hardware for charging the batteries.
ktache wrote:
And won’t they have to park to charge somewhere?
That’s another problem with using a big and heavy vehicle. Smaller e-scooters/e-bikes can use much smaller battery packs that can be swapped out with fully charged ones. That means that a much smaller space is required as only the battery needs to be taken to a charging location.
Fully autonomous cars seem to
Fully autonomous cars seem to be a lot more difficult to achieve than previously thought, so I’d consider that increased enforcement is the way to remove the worst drivers. The alternative is to build decent separated infrastructure, but that costs money and the UK seems to be allergic to designing for cyclists’ requirements, so I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that.
The big problem with autonomous cars is the form factor – why use a big and heavy metal cage when two wheels are clearly better for higher density transit. Of course, people would still want a car shape for travelling in numbers too big for bikes and too small for buses, but that should be a minority of journeys.
As this seems to be morphing into a TV show thread. I recommend Smiling Friends from Adult Swim….Never heard of that, but looks intriguing – downloading it now.
I’m a big fan of Rick’n’Morty
I’m a big fan of Rick’n’Morty too.All the leaves on the ground are due to a ‘false autumn’ from the unusual heat.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
Their (Imagine Dragons) animated cameo was a nice touch too.
I’m going to go way off-piste
I’m going to go way off-piste here and give a shout out to Arcane. It’s a 2d/3d animated series based on characters from League of Legends though there’s no need to have prior knowledge of that (I didn’t). Each episode is incredibly packed full with layered visual story-telling and character development – there’s barely a wasted minute in the entire series.