Open-source, self-driving car project

[Muazzam]

Don't let safety issues put you off - if it's unsafe, you won't want to put it on public roads and you won't be allowed to either, so you're always going to have to start off on a test track somewhere. Once you've proved that it's safer than a human driver, then it will have a place on public roads - it won't matter if it occasionally kills someone because human drivers kill more people. The real ethical problem is that as soon as someone else has software that's safer on public roads than yours, yours will be banned and theirs will take over, and seeing as you're starting way behind the big boys, realistically you're never likely to catch up, so you'll never be allowed to run your system on public roads at all.

You might still be able to contribute something though, and the bigger teams will then want/need to include your innovation in their software, and there's still room for big breakthroughs, not least with machine vision. I'd recommend that you start out with a remote controlled car and Raspberry Pi with two webcams attached to it for stereo vision, because while the big boys are fiddling around playing with lidar, you might be able to get ahead of them, although there's at least one team (at MIT if I remember rightly) doing proper stereo vision with a drone who can already get it to fly itself at speed through woodland, dodging all the trees.

Actually if you've never lived in a country like Pakistan, you'd not realize that no one would give a f' even if you landed an airplane on a public road, daily. That's true for my city, at least, I've never lived in any other cities though. Google should test its cars here--without telling anyone.

I don't think any free, uncommunist country should have such a restriction either.

[iansjack]

I don't think any free, uncommunist country should have such a restriction either.

I think you'll find that most free countries imposes some restricitions on lethal weapons.

I do wonder whether rural Pakistan is the place with the largest demand, or the best test conditions, for driverless cars. Are there not more pressing projects to pursue there?

[Muazzam]

I don't think any free, uncommunist country should have such a restriction either.

I think you'll find that most free countries imposes some restricitions on lethal weapons.

I do wonder whether rural Pakistan is the place with the largest demand, or the best test conditions, for driverless cars. Are there not more pressing projects to pursue there?

I think, even in America, you can buy firearms--which are meant to be used for killing people. Everyone would agree that they're more lethal than a small go-kart.

I don't know the demand, but here it would be somewhat more challenging and more *chaotic though. Like, there's no speed limit, lane keeping, and there are the animals on the roads, etc. It's more difficult to build a self-driving vehicle for these areas than a city with well organized traffic and strict rules.

[embryo2]

As you know, companies like Tesla, Google, etc. are literally investing billions in developing autonomous vehicles.

I believe, that's self-evident that a hobby project, that someone develops just for their pleasure, is more perfect than a commercial project that a company develops for the project and people develop for their salaries.

Of course, you can waste your money as you wish, but it always be a failure. Just read your words - they spent billions. And they have required knowledge while you don't.

Here are my specifications for the project:
...
(2) Then you'll use an Arduino OR Raspberry Pi, OR even an x86 laptop to control it. (Mounted on the car.)

Yes, Arduino is just a perfect thing for autonomous cars. Just like calc.exe is a perfect tool for every rocket science PhD holder.

Sorry, but you just do not understand what the autonomous car is. Computer vision requires a lot of processing power. And it requires a lot of very smart algorithms. And there's not only computer vision involved with the autonomous cars. And every piece involved requires very smart algorithms. And many pieces require a lot of processing power. And finally - all the pieces require a person who is experienced enough to connect the pieces and create the car. Now you can make a list of requirements and think about what part of it you really can do. But remember - a typical contemporary car has about 100 microcontrollers while it's still too far from something like "autonomous".

If it's not enough to stop you, then, of course, you can try. And after a few months you'll stop it anyway. But if you really have some money, it would be better to hire somebody with at least robotics engineering degree. And even then your project will be too far from something like the big corporations do. So, you can try, but at least you are warned.

[embryo2]

That's true for my city, at least, I've never lived in any other cities though.

Strange, but I saw your early posts with the Egypt location.

[Muazzam]

That's true for my city, at least, I've never lived in any other cities though.

Strange, but I saw your early posts with the Egypt location.

Haha. I think you're confusing me with another user, http://forum.osdev.org/memberlist.php?m ... le&u=15866, that is also a teenager. And I've never been to Egypt or the Middle East. Has anyone else seen my profile with "Egypt" on it?

[Muazzam]

As you know, companies like Tesla, Google, etc. are literally investing billions in developing autonomous vehicles.

I believe, that's self-evident that a hobby project, that someone develops just for their pleasure, is more perfect than a commercial project that a company develops for the project and people develop for their salaries.

Of course, you can waste your money as you wish, but it always be a failure. Just read your words - they spent billions. And they have required knowledge while you don't.

Here are my specifications for the project:
...
(2) Then you'll use an Arduino OR Raspberry Pi, OR even an x86 laptop to control it. (Mounted on the car.)

Yes, Arduino is just a perfect thing for autonomous cars. Just like calc.exe is a perfect tool for every rocket science PhD holder.

Sorry, but you just do not understand what the autonomous car is. Computer vision requires a lot of processing power. And it requires a lot of very smart algorithms. And there's not only computer vision involved with the autonomous cars. And every piece involved requires very smart algorithms. And many pieces require a lot of processing power. And finally - all the pieces require a person who is experienced enough to connect the pieces and create the car. Now you can make a list of requirements and think about what part of it you really can do. But remember - a typical contemporary car has about 100 microcontrollers while it's still too far from something like "autonomous".

If it's not enough to stop you, then, of course, you can try. And after a few months you'll stop it anyway. But if you really have some money, it would be better to hire somebody with at least robotics engineering degree. And even then your project will be too far from something like the big corporations do. So, you can try, but at least you are warned.

Well, you're right. When I started this thread, without realizing how strict rules are in other countries, thought that MANY experienced programmers would work on it as a hobby--just like Linux.