Self driven car/Nurburgring, Mmmmmmmmmmm
Discussion
Watching the Schumacher/C class video, got me to wondering if it would be possible to program a self driven car to drive round the 'ring faster than a skilled racing driver. I've seen them negotiate test facilities at low speeds quite successfully, but was wondering if the technology is up to matching a skilled driver, really going for it. Maybe an automated P1 might dip under seven minutes. Over to you.....
Here's Audi's attempt at Pikes Peak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwIlflmk2Y
Over 12 minutes so Mr Loeb won't be worried for now and not for a long time I'd bet, if ever.
I dare say that on a smooth, relatively simple circuit a self-driving car may approach the speed of a good human driver in the next decade or so but it's a fair way off. A normal bumpy and worn circuit presents much more of challenge and extreme examples like Pikes Peak, the Nordschleife or a rally special stage even more so.
We process so much information coming from so many sources that building a system capable of sensing, assessing and reacting to these would take a lot of sensors, processing power and tuning to account for the almost infinite variety of surface, weather, temperature, tyre condition etc. combinations. For driving on the road we're pretty much there as Mercedes, Google and others are proving, but for ultimate performance I think we're miles away.
I'd say it's most analogous to playing a musical instrument; it may be possible to build a machine to play a piano or violin to a high technical standard, but extracting that final bit of performance - the human elements, feeling and the ability to improvise, or dynamically rewrite the rules - is out of reach for our current technologies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwIlflmk2Y
Over 12 minutes so Mr Loeb won't be worried for now and not for a long time I'd bet, if ever.
I dare say that on a smooth, relatively simple circuit a self-driving car may approach the speed of a good human driver in the next decade or so but it's a fair way off. A normal bumpy and worn circuit presents much more of challenge and extreme examples like Pikes Peak, the Nordschleife or a rally special stage even more so.
We process so much information coming from so many sources that building a system capable of sensing, assessing and reacting to these would take a lot of sensors, processing power and tuning to account for the almost infinite variety of surface, weather, temperature, tyre condition etc. combinations. For driving on the road we're pretty much there as Mercedes, Google and others are proving, but for ultimate performance I think we're miles away.
I'd say it's most analogous to playing a musical instrument; it may be possible to build a machine to play a piano or violin to a high technical standard, but extracting that final bit of performance - the human elements, feeling and the ability to improvise, or dynamically rewrite the rules - is out of reach for our current technologies.
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