On 16/5/19 10:28 am, Prescott wrote:
> This sounds like a simple proximity radar system that sets off

> annoying warning signals for the driver, such as used in modern

> automobiles. I don't think it's going to actively intervene with

> automatic brake application or the trams will get nowhere.


Siemens are working on something far smarter than a simple proximity
detector. It tracks movements and predicts if the object may impinge on
the path of the vehicle in the future.

Even with 'unpredictable' individual pedestrians, analysis of large sets
of sensor data has allowed patterns to be determined and the results
apply back to individual movements with quite scary accuracy.

This is why multiple groups of researchers are driving around in cars
festooned with sensors, running up 1000s of km of 'random' driving.  We
have a VW passat with LASER and RADAR units all over it, the project
lead drives it to work every day and when it gets into the car park, it
downloads the raw sensor data over WiFi for the postgrads to 'play' with.

The VW came with a high degree of automation from the factory - it has
lane following adaptive cruise control 'out of the box'. Once it's on
the motorway it really does drive itself - to the point it's probably
dangerous as the human behind the wheel will stop paying attention.