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"Science and science fiction, how do you even distinguish the two?"
- Jerry Pournelle
 |
| Driverless Drones | ||
| One remote supervisor can drive a half-dozen drones, with some computer assistance. |
Halting State presents a completely doable version of the driverless vehicle.
| A fleet of driverless BMW SUVs appear, bouncing slowly over the traffic pillows and pull in next to you, flagrantly ingnoring the red route markings and security notices. They've got diplomatic plates. Doors spring open, and you find yourself gently inserted into the empty driver's seat of the third vehicle as Liz and the leader of the hit squad slide in the back. The steering wheel twitches hesitantly, then as the doors click shut it spins hard over and the yuppiemobile accelerates fast. You try not to shudder. You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life - and half a dozen other lives - in his hands. At least on the motorways the cars steer themselves, that's within the capabilities of today's AI. |
| Technovelgy from Halting State,
by Charles Stross. Published by Ace in 2007 Additional resources -
|
A bit later on, you get some idea of what the drone supervisor has to see with.
Compare to the remote control taxicab from Philip K. Dick's 1957 novella The Unreconstructed M.
The idea of a car that can steer itself on special highways is seen in Robert Heinlein's 1941 novel Methuselah's Children; see the entry for Camden speedster.
Here's a quick list of articles demonstrating the progress that is being made towards the goal of driverless cars.
There are probably webcams in the headlight and brake light assemblies; you certainly hope your driver can see better than you can."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Halting State
More Ideas
and Technology by Charles Stross
Tech news articles related to Halting State
Tech news articles related to works by Charles Stross
Driverless Drones-related
news articles:
- Ready For Your Halting State Driverless Drone Future?
- Uber's Robotics Plans Could Use Advice From SF Authors
- Einride Remote Operator Controls Multiple Vehicles
- 5G Will Be Crucial Backup For Self-Driving Cars
- Tesla Vs... Domino's? The Race For Autonomous Vehicles
- Einride Remote Pod Operators Control Multiple Pods
- 'Autonomous' Waymo Improves Driving With Remote Human Operators
- Tele-Driving Offers Jobs For Tele-Drivers, Not AIs
- Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
- Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
| Leader-Follower Autonomous Vehicle Technology |
| Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat |
| Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late |
| The 'Last Mile' In China Crowded With Delivery Robots |
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'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
