General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra addressed the Congress of the Intelligent Transport Society Sunday in Detroit, where she outlined the automaker’s history of innovation and future plans for advanced transportation solutions. The most important takeaway from her remarks was that Cadillac will introduce Super Cruise and vehicle-to-vehicle tech by 2017, but as explained in an intro video, GM had ideas for similar technology as early as the 1950s.
The Firebird II concept explored different design themes and technologies that could advance the automotive landscape. The car designed to travel on Robert Moses’ ‘superhighways’ and would only occupy designated high speed safety lanes. Under certain conditions, it would be able to activate a theoretical fully autonomous mode, technology which is now a reality.
The Firebird II was mentioned by Barra in her ITS speech and was also a key part of the intro video that prefaced it, which is below. GM says the car gave consumers “a view into an exciting future” which with today’s announcement of the introduction V2V and Super Cruise tech, became a reality.
Comments
While I’m all for safety features, the last thing I want is my car reporting information to other cars and roadside sensors that dial up to big brother, be it big government or big corporation. No thanks!
My problem is I want to drive my car not my car drive me. The laziness and lack off attention will cost people more than they know. Once Pandora’s box is open you will never get it shut.
What many fail to understand is once you give over control in many cities you will travel the way they want you to and when they want you to go. It will amount to a private small bus route. You may get home an hour later and not be able to stop by the store you want until they deem the roads clear enough to let you go where you want to go.
Just look how the air traffic system works and it will be about the same thing.
Then if the wrong person gets in control and exercises his or hers Executive Orders they could control you so much more than you will want to know. Not that anyone in Washington would abuse this.
The first thing my wife wanted off in her new GMC was the lane control and collision alert. We both do not drive on the cell phone and tend to pay attention as I already was run off the road by one Cell phone driver A hole.
Anyone who has seen how my mother in law drives would welcome the introduction of vehicles equipped with V2V and other collision prevention features. Many people live in suburbs with limited or no mass transit, but still have to shop, get haircuts, and so on. Stopping them from hitting a school bus or flattening pedestrians would be great!
At this time, I certainly prefer doing my own driving. Will I still want to do that in 20 years? Not if I’m in the shape my father was at 82, and he was still out cruising around. The reality for me is that even autonomous, self driving vehicles cannot get here soon enough.
Humans are living longer but their driving skills get worse with age. If there will not be laws requiring elders to take another physical driving exam after reaching 65 years of more, then autonomous driving is a requisite. As for me, I would love to have my autonomous vehicle drive me around safely, park itself, picke me up, and take me home. Driving isn’t such a pleasure anyomre, especially if you have to travel during heavy traffic and jams.
Keep in mind that the same kind of people designing these systems made the automatic landing system in the space shuttle.
On one of their early flights they encounter something they did not anticipate. A tail wind.
The craft was programed to land at a specific air speed and the landing gear would automatically deploy. Well the tail wind pushed the craft faster and it came with in 3 seconds of landing gear up. After that the NASA wiz kids made the landing hands on for the pilot putting the gear down.
This system is not the end all be all as just look at you GPS Recalculating when the road is not there.
If you can’t drive then you need to cope and rearrange your life. People have been doing it for years.
Why penalize everyone for so few.
Even with all these systems I do not want people who can see or have the motor skills to take over in an emergency behind the wheel. Sorry to be harsh but realistic.