{"id":8364,"date":"2018-04-06T09:40:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T23:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/?p=8364"},"modified":"2020-06-20T00:29:41","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T14:29:41","slug":"the-top-seven-things-autonomous-cars-cant-handle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/blog\/the-top-seven-things-autonomous-cars-cant-handle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top Seven Things Autonomous Cars Can\u2019t Handle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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My\u00a0 last post had some rather grim news to do with autonomous cars (aka driverless cars) not quite doing what they are supposed to do.\u00a0 That was an example of things going badly wrong with the sensor systems that are supposed to make driverless cars so much safer and better than real live humans.\u00a0 However, on a slightly lighter note, there are quite a few things that most of us drivers handle sometimes daily without much fuss that send autonomous cars into a full-on wobbly.<\/p>\n

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#1. Kangaroos<\/p>\n

OK, so the design teams working with Volvo\u2019s <\/a>autonomous cars in Sweden had it all sorted for the sort of large animals that are likely to hang around on roads in Scandinavia.\u00a0 The sensors can handle moose, elk and deer, detecting the beasties and stopping the car in time. However, it\u2019s a different story down here in Australia.\u00a0 The system just can\u2019t cope with kangaroos, which are large animals that we\u2019re likely to get on country roads \u2013 they\u2019re certainly the large animals involved in most animal-related crashes.\u00a0 You see, the system doesn\u2019t see an animal, recognise it and estimate the distance and take appropriate action the way a human does.\u00a0 The system uses the ground as a reference point to estimate the distance between the animal and the machine\u2026 and roos don\u2019t stay on the ground when they\u2019re on the move.\u00a0 The sensors also have trouble recognizing a kangaroo as a kangaroo because from the perspective of a computer, a kangaroo in motion and a roo resting quietly beside the road are completely different shapes and look like totally different things.\u00a0 Then you\u2019ve got the problem with roos that human drivers have to cope with: the fact that they can get a top speed of 70 km\/h and can seemingly explode out of nowhere right into your path.\u00a0 If the roo has been behind a bush or something, then the sensors can\u2019t see it and you can\u2019t see it, so you\u2019d better have roo bars fitted.<\/p>\n

\"\"#2 Car Washes<\/p>\n

Some people get a little bit phobic about those automated car washes, although others enjoy them.\u00a0 There\u2019s always that little moment when you see the big whirling brushes descend and you hope like mad that the sensors telling them when to stop aren\u2019t going to fail, crushing the top of your vehicle, shattering your windscreen and thrashing you with hundreds of little rubber whips.\u00a0 But what happens when an automatic car wash meets an autonomous car?<\/p>\n

Well, an autonomous car can get into the car wash without any problems.\u00a0 However, the vigorous action of the washer plus all the soapy foam don\u2019t agree well with the sensors, so getting out of the car wash and driving on may be another story.\u00a0 You see, the sensors have to be clear of any grime or debris to work properly and if there\u2019s soap left on them, they can\u2019t see.\u00a0 And there is soap left on them afterwards.\u00a0 At worst, the car wash knocks the sensors off or damages them, which makes for a very, very expensive fix.<\/p>\n

You have to take your pick: is washing your car by hand every time worth the convenience of a car that drives itself?<\/p>\n

\"\"#3 Bad Weather<\/p>\n

Self-driving tech works nicely in fine, sunny weather.\u00a0 However, put it in heavy rain, snow or ice and it throws a very, very big wobbly.\u00a0 Humans know \u2013 or ought to know \u2013 that when it\u2019s raining, you take it nice and slow around the corners, watch out for pools of water that could get you aquaplaning and to keep the speed down.\u00a0 Now, you\u2019d think that because we have rain-sensing wipers, an autonomous car should be able to recognise that it\u2019s raining and adjust itself accordingly.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it can\u2019t.\u00a0 It probably can\u2019t tell the difference between a light shower and a tropical monsoon.\u00a0 Google hasn\u2019t even put its self-driving cars through tests in heavy rains yet, but they already know that snow is a big problem for autonomous cars because they can\u2019t see the road markings that help them stay in their lanes and get around corners.\u00a0 As for ice, they have problems detecting this as well.\u00a0 Even if humans have trouble spotting black ice and frost on the road, we know that on a nippy day when you have to put on a nice woolly jersey, there\u2019s likely to be a bit of ice on that corner there where the trees cast a shadow on the road all day.<\/p>\n

#4 Potholes<\/p>\n

Apparently, the only holes in the road that a self-driving car can detect are the big ones made by your local road repair crew that have cones around them.\u00a0 The little blips that are hard on your tyres and suspension aren\u2019t picked up \u2013 they are below the surface of the road and they\u2019re not on any of the mapping systems that these cars use.\u00a0 So an autonomous car won\u2019t dodge potholes.\u00a0 Ouch.<\/p>\n

#5 Newly Altered Road Layouts<\/p>\n

Self-driving cars, especially the ones being worked on by Google, rely on really good maps to know (a) where in the world they are and (b) what the road is supposed to look like.\u00a0 Don\u2019t underestimate the latter bit \u2013 this is one way that driverless cars can pick obstacles: some systems scan the area around them and compare this with an image of what the road and its surroundings usually look like (letterboxes, lamp posts, etc.) and reacts accordingly.\u00a0 However, if they don\u2019t have these detailed maps, then things get a bit fun.\u00a0 As happened recently in Arizona, if the local supermarket has decided to change the layout of the carpark with its entrances and exits, a driverless car might still think that the best way to get out is via what is now a new set of stairs.\u00a0 Self-drive vehicles also go to pieces with new subdivisions and places where massive road works and new road layouts are going on: drivers from Christchurch, New Zealand, report that your common or garden GPS throws a wobbly about all the new roads and other bits resulting from the post-earthquake reconstruction.<\/p>\n

#6 Shared Areas<\/p>\n

Shared areas \u2013 places where pedestrians can go on the road at the same time as cars \u2013 are touted as being a way forward for cities of the future.\u00a0 The trouble is that driverless cars are very rule-based, and when it comes to shared areas, there are no set rules.\u00a0 Each interaction between driver and pedestrian, or between driver and driver, is a new situation.\u00a0 Nobody\u2019s got official right of way, so we use our social knowledge to ensure that everyone gets where they want to go without anyone getting hurt.\u00a0 A human driver can see that the pair of pedestrians chatting with coffee in hand staring at each other aren\u2019t about to try crossing the road.\u00a0 A robot\/computer\/self-driving car just sees human shapes and can\u2019t see what they\u2019re doing or predict what they\u2019re about to do.\u00a0 Similarly, there are tons and tons of ways that drivers and pedestrians go through the whole \u201cAfter you\u201d \u201cNo, after you,\u201d exchange.\u00a0 How we conduct these wordless conversations can be anything from a large Italian-style gesticulation to a simple jerk of the head or a raised eyebrow.\u00a0 It involves hands, arms, heads, facial expressions and mouthing words on the part of both parties \u2013 or just the driver, if he\/she spots a mum struggling with a pram and a cantankerous toddler plus a bunch of shopping bags.\u00a0 Our gestures and our decisions depend on how we\u2019re feeling, our stress levels, the other party involved (the puzzled looking tourist versus the businessperson talking on the phone while striding forward in a rush versus the bunch of teenage girls fooling around).\u00a0 And in some places, a human driver can recognise a familiar face, stop, wind down the window and have a wee chat.\u00a0 And all these variables are simply too complex, too individual and too unpredictable to be programmed into a machine.<\/p>\n

\"\"#7 Pesky Human Beings<\/p>\n

As an old road safety campaign stated, humans are unpredictable (and so are some animals, like the idiot dogs who stand there all dopey in the middle of the road staring at you as you brake and yell at them).\u00a0 A computer system relies on the situations and courses of appropriate action that have been programmed into it.\u00a0 The trouble is that not everything that people do goes according to the rules \u2013 and don\u2019t we just know it!<\/p>\n

Here are a few examples of pesky human behaviours and situations \u2013 all of which a human driver can recognise and deal with \u2013 that would throw a driverless car:<\/p>\n