If this keeps semis out of the passing lane, I'm all for it.

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
08/16/2019 at 09:29 • Filed to: None

DISCUSSION (12)

Grindintosecond > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/16/2019 at 09:43

I would actually ass ume mpg on large trucks to go up with the autopilot stuff. Many owner operators are so cautious on mileage now they do some things to guarantee they don’ t loose money, and that’s sometimes the fast lane pass that takes 5 miles over hills.

Ash78, voting early and often > Grindintosecond
08/16/2019 at 09:49

You mean get worse, correct? I sort of imagine autonomy is like cruise control, where the programming is geared toward safety and consistency, not efficiency.

Regular semi drivers, while pretty predictable, are absolutely insane on hills. 20-30mph variances from the uphill to the downhill grade — like you said, they want to hit their economy numbers. They regularly drop below the minimum posted speed where I live, but I almost never see the cops caring about it. Just like enforcing jake brakes, which are why I can’t sell my old house -- too close to a downhill interstate grade.

WilliamsSW > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/16/2019 at 09:55

Anything to keep semis out of the far left lane is good with me.

Just spent 10+ miles in a train of cars behind a semi in the left lane of a FOUR LANE interstate for no fucking reason. Signs in the center median say “NO Trucks in two left lanes”. Du mbass.

WilliamsSW > WilliamsSW
08/16/2019 at 09:57

Oh and the other day I passed an accident where TWO semis rear ended TWO cars in the left lane of a 3 lane interstate. Hopefully illegal lane usage was a bonus ticket along with the tailgating for both idiots.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/16/2019 at 10:03

You’re telling me that slamming on the brakes from 80 miles an hour and diving for the left shoulder because a semi going 60 miles decided that the perfect moment to pass a semi going 59.5 miles an hour was the exact moment you reached the back of his trailer isn’t your favorite part of any road trip?

Urambo Tauro > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/16/2019 at 10:04

I wonder how it actually chooses lanes. Because it does seem to be mostly defaulting to the right lane, but there are a few exceptions that I don’t understand its reasoning for.

It stays in the right-most lane at first, merging left only for the purpose of passing (2:06), then merging back to the right once traffic is clear (2:14). Not bad!

But it just so happens that when it merged back to that lane, a new lane opened up on the right-hand side, meaning that the truck was no longer driving in the right-most lane. Why not merge the rest of the way t o the right? Is it to avoid merging ramp traffic? If so, why wasn’t it avoiding the right-most lane when there were 3 forward lanes? It passes by some slower cars at first, and has an opportunity to merge right immediately after overtaking the last one at 2:21. But it just stays there, and after a while starts to get passed on the right-hand side...

The truck stays in that lane even as the left-most lane ends at 2:36, leaving the truck in the middle of 3 lanes again. It lingers there for quite a while before merging to the right lane at 2:55. And I’m not sure it was really choosing that lane as its ideal travel lane, or if it was just merging there in preparation for its upcoming exit at 3:06.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Urambo Tauro
08/16/2019 at 10:25

Definitely some very, very complex programming behind all this. I’m sure the system is working hard to avoid as many lane changes as possible. I assume it’s also tied into real time traffic data - I wonder at what point that data will become lane-specific? That would be incredibly helpful to autonomous systems. It makes all the sense the in the world for a semi to avoid the right-most lane in a heavy traffic area where cars are constantly merging and exiting.

Urambo Tauro > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/16/2019 at 10:37

Y’know what, looking closer, I think the truck might actually be defaulting to the 2nd-from-right lane, and doing so ONLY when 3 or more forward lanes are present.

That freeway starts with only 2 forward lanes, and the truck stays in the right lane during that stretch, but it looks like the third lane opens up (on the left) at 2:04 , so that merge at 2:06 might not have been for passing after all. I think it waited until there were 3 forward lanes to take the middle one. And when it merged right at 2:14, it wasn’t to complete an overtake maneuver, so much as it was to move into the new 2nd-from-right lane.

DipodomysDeserti > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/16/2019 at 11:06

Looks like they drove from one end of Tucson to the other and back. I used to make that run every day in college, but I was doing it at around 100mph on an SV650 at 11pm. God, I need a good monsoon.

Bear down.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Urambo Tauro
08/16/2019 at 11:10

In any urban area, the middle lane is probably the safest choice for a big truck.

Grindintosecond > Ash78, voting early and often
08/16/2019 at 11:14

A trucker or diesel guy with a big big trailer will tell you to not use the cruise on hills. Let it slow down as it goes up slightly, because mashing the gas all the way up is just burning the fuel. The momentum of the heavy rig will carry you up the hill part of the way, the engine the rest, but maintaining the speed is just burning the gas to get there and then using the brakes or engine braking to hold that speed over the top? theres a few moments in there where coasting, using momentum and gravity is not something a computer does on cruise control, unless they start programming that behavior in to the computer....

Ash78, voting early and often > Grindintosecond
08/16/2019 at 11:43

That driving absolutely makes sense for efficiency — for everyone, but especially for big rigs. But it’s dangerous as hell on hilly roads. Any time you have 30-40mph speed differentials on an interstate, disaster is right around the corner.