A discussion of autonomous cars from the point of view of a philosopher.
A discussion of autonomous cars from the point of view of a philosopher. Previous landing tests occurred on land-based mock-ups of a carrier runway and wire. Though several attempts were aborted, the X-47B has proven that autonomous carrier landings are possible. Search and rescue is a perfect field for UAVs, and, according to polls, one of the least controversial. However, this article starts out with the sentence “Pilotless drones usually used in war will be spying on the English countryside to find missing walkers”. This approach reflects and reinforces the extent to which public opinion views UAVs as inherently military technology. If nothing else, this proves just how flexible unmanned systems are – and just how widespread they might become. This article starts with Caterpillar’s work on autonomous mining trucks, and considers the future of driving jobs as the technology becomes more reliable and less expensive. The subject is barely introduced before missile-carrying military drones are referenced, again showing the extent to which the Air Force has defined UAVs in popular culture. In this article from Australia, safety and privacy concerns figure largely. Private, commercial, and government operators are all noted, though the dangers of “the issue of children flying model drone aircraft” is probably far less than the more capable government and commercial types. While still expensive ($7000+), the use of a smartphone as the computational core of this UAV brings drones far closer to the general public and low-budget hobbyists. The goal of the project is an unmanned submarine capable of deploying smaller unmanned underwater and/or aerial vehicles. Unlike the Air Force, the Navy appears less culturally against unmanned vehicle, having tested long range autonomous vehicles for years, quietly implementing them for mapping and surveillance. This perhaps comes from decades of autonomous torpedo development. Deployable (and disposable) UUVs would also allow for active sonar pings that do not give away the location of the parent submarine. Part of the shortage is from expectation of eventually being replaced by drones – which paradoxically leads to a greater need for pilot-replacements. |
||
Copyright © 2025 Solomon Asch Center - All Rights Reserved Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |