[LINK] Driverless cars: Kangaroos throwing off animal detection software

David Boxall linkdb at boxall.name
Sun Jun 25 11:35:31 AEST 2017


<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-24/driverless-cars-in-australia-face-challenge-of-roo-problem/8574816>
> Driverless car makers are discovering a unique problem as they begin 
> to test the vehicles in Australia.
>
> It turns out the unusual way that kangaroos move completely throws off 
> the car's animal detection system.
>
> "We've noticed with the kangaroo being in mid-flight ... when it's in 
> the air it actually looks like it's further away, then it lands and it 
> looks closer," Volvo Australia's technical manager David Pickett said.
>
> Because the cars use the ground as a reference point, they become 
> confused by a hopping kangaroo, unable to determine how far away it is.
>
> But Mr Pickett said it was even more complicated than that.
>
> "First we have to start identifying the roo," he said.
>
> "We identify what a human looks like by how a human walks, because 
> it's not only the one type of human — you've got short people, tall 
> people, people wearing coats. The same applies to a roo.
>
> "If you look at a roo sitting at the side of a road, standing at the 
> side of a road, in motion, all these shapes are actually different."
>
> The company nailed down their large animal detection software, first 
> tested on moose in Sweden. But the research team, who were sent to 
> Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in Canberra 18 months ago to study roos, 
> are still solving the Australian problem.
>
> "It's quite interesting for them," Mr Pickett said.
>
> He said it would not delay the eventual rollout of driverless cars in 
> Australia, but it was critical to solve the problem before they were 
> introduced.
>
> According to the NRMA, there were more than 16,000 collisions with 
> roos a year, with nearly 1,000 of those in the bush capital - the 
> number one hotspot for roo collisions in the country.
>
> Road trains, unsealed roads among other Aussie challenges
>
> In addition to difficulties detecting roos, the cars will need to be 
> adjusted for a few other Australian quirks before they are rolled out.
>
> Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative executive director Rita 
> Excell said Australia's many unsealed roads, its unmarked highways, 
> and the huge road trains that barrel down regional highways were among 
> the challenges.
>
> "There are some things you don't find in other countries. If you've 
> got a car passing something like [a road train], it needs to 
> understand what that is," Ms Excell said.
>
> But while regional Australia's road infrastructure may need some work 
> to be driverless car-ready, Ms Excell said Australia was well 
> positioned to be one of the first places for the vehicles.
>
> "The maturity is much further along than maybe is publicly aware," she 
> said.

-- 
David Boxall                    |  When a distinguished but elderly
                                 |  scientist states that something is
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  possible, he is almost certainly
                                 |  right. When he states that
                                 |  something is impossible, he is
                                 |  very probably wrong.
                                                   --Arthur C. Clarke



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