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"I've taken some stick for passages in Altered Carbon which people complained had sickened them, but then violence should be sickening."
- Richard Morgan
 |
| Driverless Drones | ||
| One remote supervisor can drive a half-dozen drones, with some computer assistance. |
Halting State presents a completely doable version of the driverless vehicle.
| A fleet of driverless BMW SUVs appear, bouncing slowly over the traffic pillows and pull in next to you, flagrantly ingnoring the red route markings and security notices. They've got diplomatic plates. Doors spring open, and you find yourself gently inserted into the empty driver's seat of the third vehicle as Liz and the leader of the hit squad slide in the back. The steering wheel twitches hesitantly, then as the doors click shut it spins hard over and the yuppiemobile accelerates fast. You try not to shudder. You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life - and half a dozen other lives - in his hands. At least on the motorways the cars steer themselves, that's within the capabilities of today's AI. |
| From Halting State,
by Charles Stross. Published by Ace in 2007 Additional resources -
|
A bit later on, you get some idea of what the drone supervisor has to see with.
Compare to the remote control taxicab from Philip K. Dick's 1957 novella The Unreconstructed M.
The idea of a car that can steer itself on special highways is seen in Robert Heinlein's 1941 novel Methuselah's Children; see the entry for Camden speedster.
Here's a quick list of articles demonstrating the progress that is being made towards the goal of driverless cars.
There are probably webcams in the headlight and brake light assemblies; you certainly hope your driver can see better than you can."
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More Ideas
and Technology from Halting State
More Ideas
and Technology by Charles Stross
Tech news articles related to Halting State
Tech news articles related to works by Charles Stross
Driverless Drones-related
news articles:
- Ready For Your Halting State Driverless Drone Future?
- Uber's Robotics Plans Could Use Advice From SF Authors
| Vantablack BMW X6 Is Douglas Adams Approved |
| Jet-Powered Hoverboard Works! |
| Nobe 3-Wheel Electric Vehicle Parking Like I, Robot |
| Mojipic Smart Voice Vehicle Emojis |
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'The planes flew continuously, twenty-four hours a day...'
'It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.'
'...a single perfectly level platform, which rose so high above the water that it was not splashed by the waves.'
'Is an extra-factual memory that convincing?' Quail asked.
Megastructures have repair robots, which have repair robots, ad infinitum.
‘She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew...’
Perfect for clot-busting in the human brain. No Raquel Welch and no lasers, though.
