[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.
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