Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Google Should Name Roads After Science Fiction Authors
Google has been working hard on making autonomous cars a reality. Now, they've leased a large part of the former Castle Air Force Base, and have built a testing environment.
(Google names roads after movie characters)
As you can see, they've named the roads after famous movie characters and cars.
I think that they should have remembered some of the great science fiction authors who have propounded, and then expanded on, the idea of an autonomous vehicle.
Update: 08-Feb-2024: I've found an earlier reference for a autonomous self-driving car in Paradise and Iron by Miles J. Breuer, published by Amazing Stories Quarterly in 1930.
I climbed in and sat down, with a queer feeling at the complete absence of the steering wheel and gear-shift levers. However, on the dashboard were a great many dials; and something was ticking quietly somewhere inside the machine.Then there was a “clickety-click” and a whirr of the motor, and the car moved gently away from the curb.
End update.
In 1935, David H. Keller described a driverless car in his short story The Living Machine.
In 1941, Robert Heinlein wrote about the autonomous highway vehicle, the Camden speedster in his novel Methuselah's Children.
In 1951, Heinlein made use of the autocab in one of his juvenile novels Between Planets.
In 1965, Philip K. Dick described an autonomic cab in his classic The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.
In 1976, Larry Niven came pretty close with his bubble car from A World Out Of Time.
In 1976, Arthur C. Clarke wrote in detail about an automatic control car in his excellent Imperial Earth.
In 2006, Alan Dean Foster wrote about an automated taxi in his excellent novel Sagramanda.
Note: This list does not include references to vehicles that are driven by robots, as opposed to vehicles which are by themselves autonomous, nor does it include autonomous flying vehicles. I've also skipped movie and TV references - so I'll just leave this here for fans of KITT ;-)
(KITT flashes LED grille)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/17/2016)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Vehicle ")
Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.' - David H. Keller, 1935.
Orb Nomad Zero-Emission Electric Aircraft
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.' RH Romans, 1929.
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.' - Robert Heinlein, 1940.
Leader-Follower Autonomous Vehicle Technology
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...' - Gordon R. Dickson, 1954.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
Biomimetic Tendons From Rochu Robotics
'... the curious parallelism to animal motions.'
Living Human Neuron Biological Compute Rack
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
ESA's Draco To Study Heat Of Reentry
'...a synthetic which air-friction would erode.'
Buy A Galaxy? Maybe Start Smaller
'The sky is the limit' just got higher.
The United States Space Academy Is Official
'Is our orbit to Space Academy clear?'
Is There A Global Problem With Who Is Having Children?
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic...
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.'
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
