GM Announces Autonomously Driven Car

[David Kelly]

Has anybody ever heard of autopilot? They use it in airplanes.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by David Kelly

Has anybody ever heard of autopilot? They use it in airplanes.

The difference between autopilot and and autonomous car is that in the air, there aren't any airplanes within miles of you, unless you are flying a military jet in formation. On the road, you have a car within a couple feet of you side to side, and maybe one ten to twenty feet ahead of you and another that is (hopefully) the same distance behind you. And, on the road, the surface is variable depending on conditions. In the air, you don't really have any variation (to my knowledge) unless there's a storm or a thermal. Also, in a typical airplane, you can have up to two pilots (one is the copilot) who can both fly the plane. In a car, one driver at a time and no backup system. I don't think autopilot is a good analogy here...

[Jack Jones]

Originally Posted by David Kelly

Has anybody ever heard of autopilot? They use it in airplanes.

They wouldn't if they flew Malfunction Junction, where I-96 meets I-696 meets I-275 meets M-5 near me.

Nor would they if my wife was running a little late on her flight to work.