back to article House of Lords: Drone vehicles are more than just robo-cars, mmkay

Autonomous vehicles are more than just cars, the House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee has warned the UK government in a report, as it urges greater focus on boats and farming equipment. “The development of CAV [connected and autonomous vehicles] across different sectors needs coordination and the Government, …

  1. Gomez Adams

    Delivering parcels in the real world ...

    ... does not mean trundling along flat level pavements up a flat level driveway / path to a customer's front door. In the real world there are steps, rough ground, overgrown shrubbery, awkward accesses etc etc. I think we are still many years away from a CAV that can handle real life.

    1. Haku
      Terminator

      Re: Delivering parcels in the real world ...

      "I think we are still many years away from a CAV that can handle real life."

      Maybe not... Boston Dynamics - Introducing Handle (YouTube)

  2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Oxymoron alert.

    Connected autonomous.

    1. BebopWeBop

      Re: Oxymoron alert.

      Not necessarily. It may be autonomous for many task but connects occasionally to get task updates and other things - or maybe even update maps?

      1. TeeCee Gold badge
        Meh

        Re: Oxymoron alert.

        In which case, being out of contact for a while in a "not spot" wouldn't matter at all.

        The only question that needs answering is whether that interest is motivated by:

        a) Continuous surveillance opportunities.

        b) The telcos looking for a huge trough of government cash to stuff their snouts in.

        (a) has to be favourite IMHO.

    2. Filippo Silver badge

      Re: Oxymoron alert.

      Sort of. In this context, I take "autonomous" to mean "unsupervised", i.e. connected, but not to a human.

  3. phuzz Silver badge

    The Wurzels 2.0

    Everybody sing along now!

    I got a brand new combine harvester, an I would give you the key, but it's one of these autonomous jobbies ain't it? and I ain't seen it for three days. It started out in top acres, and it did ok in middle ground, but then oi left a gate open and now it's cropped and bailed old Clarke's whole herd of prize Dorsetshires, blood everywhere. Last thing oi saw it were heading for Stow muttering about fleshy meatbags...

  4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Mobilty Scooters

    No one seems to be adding obstruction sensors to these things. I'm sure the majority of "drivers" are sensible, but some of the ones that drive around in shopping centres and inside shops could really do with the addition of a bit of intelligence, artificial or otherwise.

  5. Toni the terrible Bronze badge
    Holmes

    Mob Scooters - indoors

    Indeed the drivers 'may' still be there mentally but their sensors tend to be degraded and they might just need a bit of help not to hit me in the shins (again!). Perhaps add sensors as you say to the scooter or just Cyborg the drivers? Just not weapon grade lasers, please.

  6. Oengus

    What about...

    CAV [connected and autonomous vehicles]

    What about DAV [disconnected and autonomous vehicles] or UAV [Unconnected and autonomous vehicles] ?

    Surely truly autonomous vehicles will be able to operate without any connection back to the mothership... Sure they may need to communicate with the mothership when their current task is complete to get their next assignment. They should, of course, be able to accept changes to tasking from the mothership during an assignment but shouldn't need to depend on the communications to do their task.

    1. Steve the Cynic

      Re: What about...

      "What about DAV [disconnected and autonomous vehicles] or UAV [Unconnected and autonomous vehicles] ?"

      Well, UAV is already taken... (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)

      But hey, we repurpose abbreviations all the time! When I was a student, SDLC meant Synchronous Data Link Control, and CB meant Citizen's Band. But what do I know?

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