So Wait, We're All Working for General Motors Now?
Existing cameras on General Motors cars could help the automaker draw detailed maps for future self-driving cars, the automaker announced Tuesday.
GM said the technology, which it’s developing with Mobileye and will be called “Road Experience Management,” would use existing cameras and OnStar systems to upload “crowd-sourced” maps to the automaker to support future autonomous driving.
“GM is committed to bringing semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles to our customers, and this technology will be a critical enabler to getting us there,” Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, said in a statement. “We are planning to explore the integration of REM into existing GM program launches sometime later this year.”
But I don’t even like bagging my own groceries.
According to the automaker, Mobileye’s sensors can create real-time “high-definition” lane data and landmark recognition information at roughly 10 KB per kilometer. That’s uploaded through OnStar to draw detailed, continuously updated maps.
Autonopods will use that information later to determine just where in the hell to take you while you’re watching Netflix and not paying attention to where you’re being driven.
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So if I had a GM and sold it could I collect unemployment? I would want a return fee for doing the work for them. Then again, I am one of those that ask the dealer for an advertising fee or remove the sticker from the car.
“If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever. “Big Brother is Watching You.” “Orthodoxy means not thinking–not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” “The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.” - George Orwell
So I get an employee discount on my new champagne silver metallic 2.0T Malibu? Family First!
Of course, this raises one question: Why did they wait so long? Yes, Google has been doing it for a while. The US Army has been doing it for a while. Even Tesla has been doing it for a while and theirs is already actively driving the cars on the freeway and other expressways in much the same manner as Google's cars have been working in certain cities. We've seen examples of how these technologies currently read the roadways, but signs need to be recognized by color and graphic as well as shape (re: http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-smartphone-based-systems-could-help-driverless-cars-2158116 ) So GM is hardly the only one and quite honestly Tesla has it right by using the drivers themselves to properly map all signage and road markings, especially when they can also be better mapped to the GPS network. The problem is that rather than consolidating all the data collected by all the players, each one will attempt to be proprietary and each one, to avoid the same kinds of copyright issues Rand McNalley and other mapping companies have to battle; purposely injecting a minor error on each page to distinguish their work from a competitor's. It's a smart idea that should have been ongoing pretty much from the advent of standalone GPS units for cars 20 years ago.