The Coming Zombie Robot Driving Apocalypse of You

cells

CLAPTON wrote: »

this of course could be done tooverheads to managet a van with a human driver

any cost saving isn't between ps with staff but a human driver and a robot.

But a human is very expensive. Its not only wages but overhead to manage said human. You are talking at least £150 more for the human so if said van with goods sells £500 per day worth of goods you need to charge £650 for the goods or 30% more with the human which is retail is far too high a ost as retail businesses typically operate at 5% net profit or even less

cells

antrobus wrote: »

Plus, of course, a human driver can get out of the van, ring the door bell, confirm that the customer is in, and then carry the customer's shopping (and only their shopping) into their home, and even take action in response to simple requests like 'I'm sorry but salad cream is not an acceptable substitute for mayonnaise, can you please take it back'.

I remain unconvinced that a simple driverless van can accomplish all these tasks. You would be limited to providing some kind of vending machine on wheels, and thus the range of goods you could offer would be extremely limited unless you had something the size of a HGV.

I'm sorry, but I shan't be investing in your company. I'm out.

If you want a staff member you can hire him and still have it robo driven. The staff member can work upto a 15 hour shift this way. While if you want him to do the driving you need to give him lots of breaks etc

so there is no disadvantage in having the robo drive

antrobus

cells wrote: »

If you want a staff member you can hire him and still have it robo driven. The staff member can work upto a 15 hour shift this way. While if you want him to do the driving you need to give him lots of breaks etc

so there is no disadvantage in having the robo drive

I think you've rather missed the point of this whole zombie robot apocalypse thing, if it involves a human working a 15 hour shift.

My idea is so much better. I shall have driverless cars with an optional Tesco mode. Car will drive itself to Tesco, park at the click and collect dock, and return with the shopping.

Cheaper. Simpler. More choice. No 15 hour shifts and clubcard points as well. It's an all round winner.

Thrugelmir

antrobus wrote: »

I think you've rather missed the point of this whole zombie robot apocalypse thing, if it involves a human working a 15 hour shift.

My idea is so much better. I shall have driverless cars with an optional Tesco mode. Car will drive itself to Tesco, park at the click and collect dock, and return with the shopping.

Cheaper. Simpler. More choice. No 15 hour shifts and clubcard points as well. It's an all round winner.

Sounds like the Drive Thru at our local MacDonalds . Far quicker to walk in as the store is totally empty inside. While lazy people queue in their cars to be served.

Generali

It seems that Google are planning a Zombie Robot Apocalypse of Uber:

http://valleywag.gawker.com/google-betrays-uber-and-now-its-war-1683355569

Remember how Eric Sch midt spent years sitting on the Apple board, quietly learning everything about the iPhone — and then, presto, Google suddenly came out with Android and it looked a whole lot like the iPhone operating system and Steve Jobs went nuts on Sch midt for being such a sneaky, backstabbing son of a !!!!!?

Well, Google just snuck up on another victim. This time it's Uber.

BusinessWeek reports that "Google is preparing to offer its own ride-hailing service." Google's service will involve self-driving cars. In theory that could make the service cheaper and better than Uber. There would also be less chance of getting assaulted by a driver. On the other hand, in the Google car you will probably be bombarded with ads.

You didn't think Google was just making those crazy little robot cars just for fun, did you? Widespread rollout might be a few years away, but Googlers are already using the service, supposedly. And Uber has seen screenshots of the app.

What makes this a lot more interesting and backstabby is that Google has been an investor in Uber, which has given Google access to all sorts of inside information about Uber. Worse, Google's chief counsel, David Drummond, has been on Uber's board of directors since 2013. Now Uber is thinking about throwing Drummond off the board, and so they should!

Why the heck is Sch midt censored?

antrobus

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Sounds like the Drive Thru at our local MacDonalds . Far quicker to walk in as the store is totally empty inside. While lazy people queue in their cars to be served.

Ooh! Now I'm going to a add a McDonalds mode. Car will drive itself to McDonalds, get in the click and collect lane, and return with dinner.

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

....Why the heck is Sch midt censored?

I've noticed that before. For some reason the German version of the Smith surname is verboten.

The only reason I can think of is that the word contain the letters s, h, i, and t, in that order.

cells

Generali wrote: »

It seems that Google are planning a Zombie Robot Apocalypse of Uber:

http://valleywag.gawker.com/google-betrays-uber-and-now-its-war-1683355569

Why the heck is Sch midt censored?

The first company with the self drive tech will become a multi trillion dollar valued company.

In England alone there are >200,000 taxis. Multiply by 50x to get an idea for Europe+USA+China+Japan+Turkey+Canada+Aust+Mexico and you get a figure of > 10 million.

If their software can make $15k a year per taxi (replacing the $20-60k human) that's > $150B profit per year

but as discussed replacing human taxis with self drive taxis is just the tip of the iceberg

Worldwide I think this tech will be worth ~ $5 trillion per year to humanity which makes it more important than aliens gifting us a free eternal self sustaining no maintiannce fusion reactor.

cells

Project Tango: Google's 3D mapping technology coming to phones THIS YEAR, letting you scan the world around you


Google just kick started the tech for 3D mapping on phones. These will probably develop like cameras did on mobiles. From crap low res useless cameras on phones to now fantastic HD cameras. The 3D cameras will probably follow the same 10-15 years from nearly useless to fantastic.

That means all the hardware for self drive vehicles will be available on a phone!
Only the software remains and they are getting good at that too

antrobus

cells wrote: »

.....Worldwide I think this tech will be worth ~ $5 trillion per year to humanity which makes it more important than aliens gifting us a free eternal self sustaining no maintiannce fusion reactor.

The global energy market is worth about $6,000 trillion. The global taxi market is worth about $100 billion. When my alien friends finally get around to sending me the blueprints for their cold fusion reactor, I shall be able to buy your driverless taxi business from petty cash.

http://www.leonardo-energy.org/blog/world-energy-expenditures
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/uber-isnt-worth-17-billion/