06 September 2010

Knight Rider? Not Quite . . .

Two self-driving electric robot vans have embarked on an epic journey from Italy to China in a bid to demonstrate the scope of autonomous driving technology.

So these two vans will travel from Italy to China starting in July and ending in October. They can go 37mph and have to stop after 4 hours of travel to recharge. Pretty cool, really. Check out the article for more info.

After I read this, my geek brain kicked in and I wondered: Will these two vans travel the entire way to China, only to find some other self-driving machine waiting for them at the finish line? You know, like all those Sci Fi books where the first round of colonists go out on the slow ships and actually arrive after the second round who got to ride in the ships with faster than light capabilities, which were only discovered after the first round left.

That's where my mind went. Then I pictured the other vehicles looking much cooler than these vans, with drivers (not actually doing any driving, of course) who were cocky, hot Americans who would then “wave” as they went by the vans in the mountains of China. Mr. Hasselhoff, I presume?

These are the things I wonder.

2 comments:

Lace and Books said...

I certainly hope it wasn't Hasseloff he's a Bleeeeep. I know my sister has "worked" with him. I'd go in for Vin Deasel or Ken Watanabi.

Jared and Lisa said...

Thanks for the info. I watched a special once about a competition where they program different vehicles to take on various terrain. One group even came up with a motorcycle.
I am excited to see how they are coming along with the space elevator. That is going to be pretty cool.