Cross driverless cars with Uber and you have Public Transport. I can see share ownership of vehicles in the future.

A Volvo spokesperson was quoted as follows in relation to driverless cars appearing any time soon on normal roads: "Bull....". Trust Volvo. This is a textbook case of 100% technology push and zero market pull. I haven't tried this yet, but someone ought to talk to car dealers and ask how many enquiries they get for driverless cars. Don't bet on responses supporting a business plan. Why would consumers want one? The only mention of any kind of value proposition in this article is that cars would "turn into a mobile living space". Just what we all wanted!

The Ant Mobile

Sitting quietly alone
(It was upon the bathroom throne)
Watching antics of an ant
I pondered on its power plant.

What a total mystery
It didn't have a battery.
It scurried here, it scampered there
Didn't take in any air.

Doesn't even have a heart.
Never heard an ant to fart.
No such thing as ant manure
Their engine is emission-pure.

They're no Arnie Schwarzeneggers
Muscles on these little beggars
Don't exist, just little sticks
With bends in them to do their tricks.

Tireless they go about
Silently (they never shout).
Technology soon must reveal
An eco-friendly Ant Mobile.

Tyreless, unlike a car
We'll breed them bigger - there you are
A saddle and a bridle too
No roads needed, what a view.

Up the walls, across the ceiling
Oh what a fantastic feeling
No more rubber on the road
They even make their own abode.

No traffic lights we need provide
(Never do two ants collide)
They have an inbuilt GPS
No headlights, wow, do they impress.

Maybe we could penetrate
Systems that they generate
Systems that are so obscure
Why it is that they endure.

Ants predict the weather better
When they swarm, it's getting wetter
When it's dry, they disappear
Waiting for another year.

We must leave no stone unturned
Ants hold secrets to be learned
Each a powerhouse entrained
So compact - so self-contained.

When we think of wealth creation
Man-made blocks to innovation
Stop our motivation to invent
Compliance is our prime intent.

If rules were few and fair, and good
Simple and well understood
We would have more time to learn
Nature needs no tax return.

Jock McPoet
25 March 2013

Great poem John, thanks.

I recall it was Mercedes who demonstrated their automatic braking system, designed to prevent your car running up the backside of another. Problem with the demonstration was, it didn't. Wrote off a couple of cars.

This is going to be another "lead a horse to water" type thing. They can stick as many as they like in showrooms, but getting anyone other than trendy fools to buy them may be a different problem.

As an engineer, you won't get me to buy the first of any new model of anything. I want to give manufacturers a year or so to sort out those glitches & teething problems they didn't get sorted before the accountants demanded the thing went on sale. How many promising designs were killed off that way. Our local Ford Capri, recently discussed, springs to mind.

This is OK perhaps when it is only an engine or transmission that fails, when it might be the self steering I'm just not interested.

Actually it might help with the Darwin principle, in getting rid of some defective trendies, so perhaps a good thing.

I don't know, Hasbeen, I'm sure that I've already seen a few driverless cars on the New England Highway, at least there didn't seem to be anyone in control!!

As an aside, I once was a passenger in a 1906/7 Detroit Electric, the driver sat at the left rear, facing forward as did the passenger beside him; the other two passengers sat facing the driver (vis-a-vis).
Steering was by tiller which was under the driver's right arm and the column was behind his seat (or thereabouts).

As it made it's stately and silent progress there appeared to be no one driving/steering.
Used to turn some heads!

Some lads had an air-cooled Franklin of about 1918 vintage and the steering wheel was mounted low down on the left hand side and couldn't be easily seen by other motorists.
The lads mounted another column and wheel on the rhs but the wheel was not fixed.
The big joke was to be driving along in traffic and the "driver" would suddenly pull the steering wheel off and appear to be out of control, as the real driver did a few wobbles.

All good clean fun (1950s) until an approaching woman in a Morris Minor swerved out of their way and ended up in someone's driveway.

The police were not amused.

The technology does seem to be coming along pretty well.

Google have done a lot of miles in the USA http://www.ask.com/wiki/Google_driverless_car?o=2802&qsrc=999&ad=doubleDown&an=apn&ap=ask.com

The Tesla Model S appears to be fitted with (or have as options) components of a self drive system http://www.ask.com/wiki/Tesla_Model_S?o=2802&qsrc=999&ad=doubleDown&an=apn&ap=ask.com#AutoPilot which will be software upgraded as improvements are made. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in practice but given what I've seen of the other projects under Elon Musk's control I suspect they will find ways to make it work.

R0bert