Amazon Patent Hints at Self-Driving Car Plans (theguardian.com) 28
Amazon is working on self-driving cars, according to a new patent that deals with the complex task of navigating reversible lanes. From a report on The Guardian: The patent, filed in November 2015 and granted on Tuesday, covers the problem of how to deal with reversible lanes, which change direction depending on the bulk of the traffic flow. This type of lane is typically used to manage commuter traffic into and out of cities, particularly in the US. Autonomous vehicles, the patent warns, "may not have information about reversible lanes when approaching a portion of a roadway that has reversible lane", leading to a worst-case scenario of them driving headfirst into oncoming traffic. More generally, the inability to plan for reversible lanes means cars and trucks can't optimize their routes by getting into the correct lane well in advance, something that could otherwise prove to be one of the benefits of self-driving cars. Amazon's solution to the problem could have much larger ramifications than simply dealing with highway traffic in large cities. The patent proposes a centralized roadway management system that can communicate with multiple self-driving cars to exchange information and coordinate vehicle movement at a large scale.
centralized roadway management = new car 3-4 years (Score:2)
centralized roadway management = new car 3-4 years as software updates may stop after 2-3 years and do you really want to pay $2K-5K to update your car's computer at the dealer?
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won't pan out for at least a decade due to regulations and liabilities.
So far the regulations are keeping up with technology. Tesla Autopilot and other driver assistance and self-steering and self-braking is legal in all states. Many states have streamlined approval for SDC testing. By the time SDCs are available to the public, they will be legal in most places.
The liability situation doesn't change much.
Before SDCs: The insurance company pays.
After SDCs: The insurance company pays.
The big difference will be that, instead of the driver buying insurance, the cost of insuran
Let me guess (Score:3)
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No, giant OLED panels on the outside of your car and on the interior of the windshield. It's $500 with ads, $50,000 without.
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It costs $500 but the shipping is $40,000 unless you buy a 12 pack to qualify for free super saver delivery, or have an Amazon Prime account.
They are working on systems that would support... (Score:2)
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you don't get to try to patent it and lock others out.
It is unlikely that is their goal. Most likely they are collecting SDC related patents to help them negotiate a patent pool [wikipedia.org] with other SDC developers (Google, Uber, etc.).
SDCs will almost certainly lower delivery costs, and will be a huge benefit to Amazon, so it would be silly for them to impede progress by hoarding patents.
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Microsoft is an operating system developer, why are they producing games consoles?
Apple is a personal computer producer, why are they making telephones?
Google is a search engine, why are they making glasses?
AT&T is a phone provider, why are they selling TV?
Yahoo is a web portal, why are they giving your e-mail addresses to Russia?
All the tech companies are diversifying. Tech is a rapidly changing industry, if you stick with producing one thing, you will likely become obsolete.
Palm Pilot anyone?
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Doesn't even have to be a rapidly changing industry.
Avon was a door-to-door bookseller. It's been selling beauty products since anybody can remember. Nokia sold the raw material for books -- paper.
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Good news is... (Score:2)
If you buy an Amazon Car, you get Amazon Prime movies to watch whilst the car drives you around. If you tell it to drive to Walmart, it will take you to one of the new Amazon brick and Mortar stores instead, free of charge.
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Centralized Roadway Management = will get hacked (Score:2)
Because someone will insist it gets connected to the public internet to make their personal lives easier.
Not about cars for consumers... (Score:1)
Amazon doesn't want to sell cars to consumers. They do, however, want to make their logistics as efficient as possible. Think autonomous inter and intra city transport.
Autonomous vehicles between logistics hubs; drones for 'last mile' delivery to consumers. No more inconvenient/inefficient drivers.
Why not develop an API instead? (Score:1)
The problem of driving cars is complex, but it is modular (avoid obstacles, visual recognition, ethical decisions) and universal (everybody mostly want the same thing, that is the car not to crash). So, why don't all these companies develop specifics APIs, or modules, and make the core, gluing system open, instead wasting time developing their own distro, *ehm, algorithm. Considering that self-driving cars will likely interact with more and more s