Around the Net
Sensors Could Add $4,000 To Price Of A Car
- Reuters, Friday, April 1, 2016 9:05 AM
Volvo's North American CEO, Lex Kerssemakers, lost his cool as the automaker's semi-autonomous prototype sporadically refused to drive itself during a press event at the Los Angeles Auto Show. "It can't find the lane markings!" Kerssemakers griped to Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was at the wheel. "You need to paint the bloody roads here!" Shoddy infrastructure has become a roadblock to the development of self-driving cars, vexing engineers and adding time and cost. Poor markings and uneven signage on the 3 million miles of paved roads in the United States are forcing automakers to develop more sophisticated sensors and maps to compensate, industry executives say.
Yep, nothing like pulling the covers back on your self-driving car...........and it DOESN'T get out of the starting blocks. Here's a concept..............DRIVE IT YOURSELF. Oh, wait, Volvo put 4-grand worth of plastic radar parts and it won't recognize the roads that we drive on daily? Yep, these little things keep proving my point, this is the DUMBEST idea of the 21st cenbtury. So the Volvo Prez is ticked that the car won't respond. Think of the poor schmuck who buys one, and it stops working............maybe on I-5 , maybe in 10 lanes of traffic, maybe people getting on and off ramps, and maybe it doesn't recognize the McDonalds sign so they can't get their Egg McMuffin? Hey, car makers, spend your research money on things that are important, like find a car design that doesn't look like every other car and the most distinguishing feature is the crease that runs down the side of the car, right through the door handles. Or maybe invest in some other paint color other than silver.!!!