SCRIPT FOR JEREMIAH BURTON (DONUT MEDIA)
INTRO:
11 - The automobile has been around for more than a century. It’s completely revolutionized how we commute, turning days of miserable traveling into something you and I do every day.
From shipping goods across vast terrains of land to taking your children to football practise, the car has made the world around us that much more accessible and will always remain as the all-important puzzle piece that lays out the foundation of how far we as a species have evolved.
But what if I told you that the concept of driving is about to change? And doing so in bigger ways than you can imagine?
Well, today on “Bumper 2 Bumper” we’re going to take a closer look on something many believe will be the natural evolutionary step for our dear automobiles: autonomous vehicles. Let’s go!
*Que sick-B2B-intro*
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MAIN SCRIPT:
Now, let’s get one thing out of the way right from the get-go: the term autonomous vehicle, by definition, is “a car that can drive itself from a starting point to a predetermined destination using various in-vehicle technologies and sensors.”
What are these in-vehicle technologies, you may ask? Well, have you ever heard of adaptive cruise control? Active steering? Anti-lock braking systems? Or GPS navigation technology? I know you have, so let’s instead focus on what makes autonomous vehicles… autonomous.
When googling ‘driverless cars’ you’ll probably see a car with a big, spinning square sticking out of its roof. Take the Waymo Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid for example. Although it doesn’t have a spinning boy as its brain like most other driverless cars, the tech implemented into its hump is just as head-turning.
This thing is called LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging sensors), and it beams laser light to lay out the car’s surroundings in hopes of detecting road edges and lane markings.
Driverless vehicles also accommodate radar sensors that monitor the presence of nearby vehicles and the speed they’re traveling at to avoid collision.
Video camera technology tracks nearby obstacles and pedestrians including taking on the role of identifying road signs as well as traffic lights.
There’s even, and I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it, ultrasonic sensors located on the wheels (!) to help detect the positions of curbs and other vehicles when parking and manoeuvring.
It’s all incredibly complicated stuff that requires an incredibly smart computer to sort everything out while on the move. And thankfully, with over 100,000 lines of code embedded within, if you look inside the trunk, there’s a central computer system which processes data collected from the features I’ve just mentioned to accurately determine the steering, acceleration and braking input necessary for that specific moment. By using, you guessed it, in-vehicle technologies!
*Show the aforementioned in-vehicle technologies on screen*
Now, if all these features are equipped in a car, experts would call it a Level 5 autonomous vehicle – the car is completely capable of driving itself in every situation.
Fully autonomous cars are being tested all around the world, but as of this recording, none are yet available for the general public. Instead, we’ve got what’s called automated cars. Let me explain.
There are six levels of driving automation, from zero to five.
At Level 0, everything is controlled by the driver.
Level 1 introduces the possibility of allowing the car to control one system at a time, such as cruise control or automatic braking.
Level 2 allows your car to power two (!) systems simultaneously, like acceleration and steering.
At Level 3 the car has environmental detecting capabilities and can perform most tasks under certain conditions.
Level 4 expands the vehicle’s fully autonomous driving scenarios greatly, though not fully. It’s only when we arrive at Level 5 where things get… weird.
At level 5 (full automation) the car is able to make its own choices without you and me interfering with it. The car sort of has its own consciousness, which is why the SAE uses the term ‘automated’ as opposed to ‘autonomous’ when talking about current driverless cars.
Nearly every modern car can be considered Level 2 automated – they all have self-driving up their sleeves. And with increased interest from governments, major car companies and tech giants alike are pumping staggering amounts of money into multiple research projects in hopes to make future cars more automated.
Companies ranging from Tesla, Zoox, Nauto, CARMERA, Embark Trucks and the aforementioned Waymo are all innovating at a persistent pace to make self-driving cars mainstream.
But this requires lots of hard work, because the truth is folks, self-driving cars of today are a bit like teenagers; teaching them to communicate effectively and drive safely is a bit of a handful.
However, these conflicted teens will grow to be adults, and it’s this thing many speculate will bring forth an overwhelming change onto the world of transportation – their impact.
Let’s start with positives first.
If perfected, reductions in road traffic accidents caused by human error will be one of the largest benefits, and since driverless cars are electrically powered, cloud-based internet connectivity will enable them to foresee traffic hotspots, making optimizations for the car’s route to become greener a no-brainer.
Self-driving vehicles could potentially help mobilize those with disabilities and the very elderly, and if you happened to live in LA, congestion would turn into a distant memory – the very same issue that Elon Musk is hoping to solve by digging tunnels underground!
In fact, the Boring Company has announced that it’s going to allow people test their Tunnel project, known as the Las Vegas Loop, this very February for a price of zero dollars, including beginning construction on new tunnels in Miami, making Elon that much closer to realizing his vision for underground transportation-
*Show picture of non-autonomous cars being transported through Elon’s tunnels*
Oh.
Yeah, despite the many pros with driverless cars, the fact is that they aren’t perfect and probably won’t be for a long time.
Existing prototypes still require a full-fledged driver to take control of the car if necessary, which rules out the whole purpose of fully autonomous cars. We still have a long way to go before we can all hold hands and agree upon the massive benefits autonomous vehicles bring to the table.
Because, as of right now, concerns regarding safety, equity, and even environmental impacts if the vehicles are not to be fully electrified, are all shaping up to be one massive hurdle for self-driving cars to overcome.
I mean, you wouldn’t want to have your car’s cybersecurity overrun by a hacker who’s got a less-than-ideal social life, would you? And what about when no one is going anywhere?
During these troubling times, more people than ever are forced to distance themselves from others, making family reunions and vacations alike a big no-no. Suppose a similar pandemic arises when autonomous cars are commonplace. With no passengers to escort, are these self-driving cars just going to continue driving on the streets? That’d be horrifying!
Okay, maybe I’m overexaggerating, but this might very much conspire. Regulations have actually been brought forth by different states to prevent these “zombie cars” from taking over the roads. The Walking Dead? More like The Driving Dead, am I right?
*Nervous laughter*
Anyway, what some states have proposed vary from a per-mile tax on autonomous vehicles to prevent the rise of “zombie cars” including a must-have panic button to be fitted in case, you know, something bad happens. And places where something bad happens for autonomous cars are being mentioned left and right.
If multiple autonomous vehicles were to drive on the roads, would their lidar signals interfere with each other? Will it affect the car’s range? What happens when it’s cold and the roads are covered in snow? How will the cameras and sensors detect the obscured lane dividers? Will the car lose all its self-driving capabilities when going through tunnels where the signal is non-existent?
And what happens in the most occupied parts of a city? Will self-driving cars cope with bumper-to-bumper traffic? Will they be granted carpool lane access? Who is to blame in an accident caused by an autonomous vehicle? You? The manufacturer?
And then there’s the question of artificial intelligence keeping up with emotional intelligence.
As drivers, we rely on subtle cues to make split-second judgment calls to predict behaviours of pedestrians. Good non-verbal communication and making eye contact can be what determines a life-saving outcome from one that isn’t.
Will autonomous cars be able to replicate this connection? Will they make improvements to our life-saving instincts as human drivers? So many questions, and yet no solid answers - at least not from people with blood in their veins. You and I on the other hand, we’ve got petrol running through our streams. So, you can probably imagine what happens next…
The Mazda Miata. The Toyota GT86. The Golf GTI. M3. AMG. Elise. 4C. Mustang.
All these cars – and SO MANY more – have found their ways inside our petrol-pumping hearts. They’ve cemented themselves as the all-time greats when it comes to making your Monday morning become a Friday evening. But why? They’re fun to drive – that’s really all there is to it.
For some, having a massive V8 up front that can smoke its rear tires to bits with the barest hint of throttle is considered a “fun” car. While others prefer a small, light, nimble, able-to-use-all-available-power-without-getting-a-speeding-ticket type vehicle. Heck, even quirky styling makes a car fun for certain people!
There’re really no boundaries as to what can be described as a fun car.
In short, you’ll get different answers from different people, but all that truly matters is whether it puts a smile on your face.
I mean, just imagine for yourself getting in your little rocket and reaching for the ignition with your rattling key chain. You lay your left hand on the steering wheel while, with both the clutch and brake pressed hard against the floor, your trusty right turns on the ignition.
With a slight cough, the car vibrates into life, and with your right hand now positioned on the gear lever, you shift into first gear.
Whether you’re about to embark on your morning commute or make yet another attempt to annoy your neighbours, you, hunkered down in your seat, cocooned in the comfort of sitting down, moving faster than you ever could on your own feet, have succumbed to a day-defining decision.
Up ahead you spot a traffic light. It’s engulfed in the colour red and you prepare to push the clutch pedal down to make a successful stop. Behind you, the ever-growing pile of morning commuters take up all the space in your rear-view mirror. There’s no turning back.
With both feet pressed against their own individual pedals you wait anxiously for the light to turn green. It’s here that you face two choices. Either you wait and burble away past the light, paying attention to what’s around you, or with hands so tight they make marks round the leather steering wheel, you release both pedals simultaneously when the light turns yellow, and smash the throttle at green.
Your mind says to follow the rules and treat everyone with respect, but your heart says to go for it. Are you clever enough to resist the urge? Do you choose punctuality over dumb fun? You’re in control, after all. Whatever happens next is your own doing - no one else’s. So… what’s it going to be?
*VROOOOM*
Ah… driving. It’s a God-given gift in of itself. Pleasure might very well be subjective, but everyone knows that driving involvement can be your easiest get-out-of-boredom card. It’s been like this since the birth of the automobile. And that begs the question: why change it?
Why does it seem that driving will soon be something from the past? Driverless cars won’t have a steering wheel, pedals nor shifter, so the joy of driving will be stripped away completely.
I mean, since when did having fun become old-fashioned? Besides, why should we agree upon this change with something that’s more of an idea than actual reality? Yes, experts say driverless cars will revolutionize how we commute on a daily basis, but driverless vehicles are still a fairly new concept, right? Right?
*Show video of the 500-year-old driverless ‘car’*
Turns out, driverless cars aren’t a new idea, and you might not believe it, but this 500-year-old wooden box on wheels is considered by many to be the precursor of the modern automobile. But, as you can see, there’s no-one driving it. In other words, you can say that it’s… a self-driving car!
Built by the greatest mind the world has ever known, Leonardo Da Vinci created plans for a self-propelled cart that would be used in a theatre setting. No bigger than a coffee table, this cute little thing was powered by coiled springs and featured programmable steering and brakes that could be controlled at a distance using concealed rope.
However, despite this invention being self-driving, you wouldn’t call it ‘driverless’, would you? The world, unfortunately, had to wait nearly half a millennium before the ‘driverless’ car era began.
It wouldn’t be until the summer of 1925 when we’d see the unofficial birth of the driverless car era with Hudina’s “American Wonder” gently traveling along Broadway in New York. And I say unofficially because four years prior, on the streets of Dayton, Ohio, the military unveiled a working, radio-controlled, three-wheeled, coffin-like “car” named the RCA – short for Radio-Controlled Car.
Being the next evolutionary step of the first unmanned ground vehicle, the radio-controlled tricycle constructed by Leonardo Torres-Quevedo in 1904, it not only helped captivate the public’s attention for driverless cars but also, accompanied by the “American Wonder”, laid out the foundation of what surreal technology will be implemented into these cars in the future – namely radio signals.
In fact, in 1939, GM had a vision that this technology would turn the 1960s into a driverless Utopia. A world where all cars were controlled using radio and propelled by, get this, electromagnets buried in the highway. Yeah, I can’t make sense of it either. Although, it isn’t a weird as, say, having a car with eyes, am I right?
*Uncomfortable pause*
Say hello to the electric eye automobile - the non-radio approach from 1936 for an autonomous future. I know, I know… just bear with me on this one, okay?
You see, the ‘eyes’ are actually lasers which project a highly concentrated light beam onto the road ahead. The light reflects back at the car, and after processing the received information, you have a metal bug that has a clear picture of where to go. Does this remind you of something? Photo detectors, perhaps? Because that’s what it essentially is.
From here on forward, driverless cars began to not only feature ground-breaking technology but also, if you look at the 1956 Firebird II, started having relationships with spaceships.
I mean, just look at this thing! If you walked up to someone and showed them a picture of this car, eleven times out of ten they’d think it came from the future - when it’s actually a 75-year-old relic that ran on too-good-to-be-true technology!
And speaking of too-good-to-be-true-technology…
In the 1980s, the Defence Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA for short, came up with the Autonomous Land Vehicle (ALV). This 12-foot-tall, eight-wheeled robot was the first truly self-driving machine. How? By using something called LIDAR which, as we’ve already discussed, are lasers and sensors - the exact same tech that’s used to test autonomous vehicles today!
So, really, this giant metal cube, capable of traveling at a measly 2 miles an hour and tops its range at 600 meters, can be considered the first modern-day driverless car.
Since the ALV, the technology has only improved. From trucks to race cars, to busses and taxis, a driverless future is nigh upon us. Gone are the days of spring coils, radio controls and electric highways and instead computers and sensors have taken their place.
It’s been a wild journey to where we are today, but does that mean we’re done? No.
Driverless tech is like a growing organism. Has the flower blossomed yet? No. But if you give it some time, you’ll be rewarded, and in the case of a fully autonomous future, you may soon find yourself cruising down the highway in a fully legal, Level 5 self-driving car.
But not yet. Not yet.
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FIN:
Thank you, guys, so much for watching this episode of “Bumper 2 Bumper”. We will be back next week for another fire episode. Make sure to hit that like button if you enjoyed this video - it means a ton.
Hit the subscribe button if you’re a fan or become a member of Donut if you’re a super fan.
Follow Donut Media on Instagram at @DonutMedia, follow me at @JeremiahBurton, and until next week, bye for now.
SOURCES:
https://www.synopsys.com/automotive/what-is-autonomous-car.html
https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/the-driverless-car-era-began-more-than-90-years-ago
https://www.apex.ai/post/a-brief-history-of-automated-driving-part-two-research-and-development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_self-driving_cars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo%27s_self-propelled_cart
Written by: Christian Narvselius
For: Jeremiah Burton
Email: christian.narvselius@gmail.com
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WARNING!
-THE FOLLOWING IS THE WRITER GOING COMPLETELY BONKERS WITH UNCLE JERRY -
12 - When your uncle Jerry was just a little boy, he saw the human race get introduced to something pointy.
Uncle Jerry’s bigger brother, Lerry, had just hurt himself on a weirdly shaped rock that stuck out from the ground beneath him. Feeling the pain engulf him, he made a howl so loud it was heard across the land.
As he jumped away like a kangaroo on a week-long cocaine binge, our beloved Jerry took up this stone and, as if by pure instinct, started hitting other rocks with it. Life would never be the same for little Jerry, because he had accidentally kicked off a phenomenon that would define our species: tools.
From pointy rocks to wooden spears, Jerry got a free ticket to see the hairy humans improve their likelihood of survival, soon wandering around the world to their hearts’ content.
Because the truth is, folks, as Jerry was witnessing the rapid expansion of civilization from the comfort of his Ford Model T, he soon realized that humans weren’t making tools out of necessity anymore, but out of convenience. Whatever could be made to make life a touch easier, he saw humans achieve.
Jerry as of this taping is driving down the A25 in his newly bought Tesla and listening to Steely Dan.
Why a Tesla, you may ask? Well, all because of something many believe will be the next evolutionary step for automobiles, namely autonomous vehicles.
But what are autonomous vehicles? What does autonomous even mean? Why are people talking about them? And how is this technology going to affect our daily lives? Well, in this episode of B2B we’re going to look at just that. Let’s go!
*Que sick-B2B-intro*
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FIN2 – Thank you guys for watching this episode of “Bumper 2 Bumper”. We had a lot of fun making it.
Make sure to like and leave a comment down below on your thoughts about an autonomous future.
Will Uncle Jerry still be with us when we witness the removal of the steering wheel? Only time will tell. Anyway, until next week, have a good one!
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