Willravel

This BMW 330 has learned the track at Top Gear, and will drive it at track speed.

This is fucking awesome. Enjoy.

jorgelito

BMWs are indeed some piece of beautiful engineering. If I wasn't such an environmentalist, I would probably get one. I am waiting for their hybrid or other alternative fuel car.

shakran

um.

holy shit.

that, is impressive.

Redjake

Wow! that's just like Minority Report.

__________________
Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

Baraka_Guru

Entertaining clip, but the idea isn't very new....




This immediately came to mind:
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JHcRWB4F42c&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JHcRWB4F42c&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Esoteric

Damn, that was pretty cool.

__________________
From a head full of pressure rests the senses that I clutch
Made a date with Divinity, but she wouldn't let me fuck
I got touched by a hazy shaded, God help me change
Caught a rush on the floor from the life in my veins

Cynthetiq

damn... that's crazy!!!

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

BadNick

Great job, BMW! That was very cool. I have to find out more about exactly what they did. GPS? other memorized data?

With that I guess now I can send my car to a track day while I stay home and watch football ...or watch my car racing around on TV. I hope it wins.

shakran

Get the piano up to 120mph and make it have to negotiate corners at-speed and I'll be impressed

QuasiMondo

I prefer taking a car up to 120 by myself, thank you very much.

Although I guess it'll be fine for people who would rather do other things besides driving....

....like talking on a cell phone...or reading a newspaper...or shaving and doing makeup...or sending text messages...

__________________
Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer.

-From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

Willravel

I wonder how many people have died because of drunk drivers (16,885 fatalities in 2005 in the US alone), falling asleep at the wheel, cardiac arrest while driving... all could be prevented by this technology. There's no need to hate on people who multitask in this thread.

QuasiMondo

Not really hating on them, but I think operating an automobile should be given more serious consideration as a skill than it currently is. If you as a driver can't take the time to focus on operating a machine that is capable of death and destruction when improperly used, then you shouldn't be driving until you are able to focus on driving.

To me, this is about as scary as relying on the auto-pilot to take-off and land a commercial airliner.

__________________
Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer.

-From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

MSD

On one hand, there's the cool technology factor. It would be awesome to watch.

On the other hand, I can barely deal with other people driving most of the time. Even knowing it works, I would probably have a panic attack when the wheel started turning itself. Maybe I could deal with it on a wide-open lot or the salt flats ... maybe.

telekinetic

Ah, so you're ready to accept it as a safe and normal part of every day (for some) 21st century life? Glad to hear it!

If you've ever landed during low visibility conditions on a major airline, chances are good that the pilot was just watching the instruments, and didn't turn the autopilot off until he was on the runway. For some airlines, there is actually a minimum number of hands off (or 'coupled'...that is, computer coupled to the controls) landings required per year to stay up to date on them.

On take off, the autopilot usually isn't engaged until at least 5 or 10 seconds after the wheels leave the ground. Not because it couldn't do the whole thing easily (see: numorous unmanned vehicles capable of autonomous flight), but only because regulations on how long is too long to switch back to manual control in an emergency haven't caught up with technology.

Also, there's no real reason for takeoffs to be autopilot, it's not like it's technically difficult to take off...landing is at least two orders of magnitude more difficult a challenge from a computation perspective.

__________________
twisted no more

QuasiMondo

I guess I won't be flying anytime soon.

__________________
Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer.

-From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

dirtyrascal7

Wow... that really is fucking awesome.

I have to assume that the car was programmed much like on Mario Kart where you race your "ghost"... the computer just replicates your lap exactly how you ran it. Pretty simple if you think about it, but definitely awesome.

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

BadNick

At hypediss.com I found this description of how it was done:
The BMW 330i in the video is able to learn from a human driver how to navigate a track (i.e. how to take the corners and what lines to follow), and then it can repeat the course at race speeds without any human assistance whatsoever. This technology, which could be adapted to other types of cars, is based primarily on a military-grade GPS system that is able to locate the car within a few centimeters. Since the car knows exactly where it is, it can compare its present location with the instruction it received on the track, and then perform the same maneuvers as the human driver did. There isn’t much in the way of creativity involved here, and the BMW doesn’t seem to be outfitted with any other sensors that might allow it to react to other cars or unforeseen obstacles, but all of that stuff is in existence already.

Plan9

Which one of you jerks works for Cyberdyne Systems?

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

healer

That really was impressive. Kinda reminds me of when Will Smith fell asleep at the wheel in I, Robot.

Am I ready to accept it into every-day life? Hell no.

__________________