Posts Tagged ‘robot’
Monday, October 3rd, 2011
Remember happier times back in aught-eight, when “Pribot,” the famous autonomous Prius, was roving the Streets of San Francisco with a huge SFPD escort and teams of camerapeople in tow?
Well, those halcyon days are over, so now Pribot has been relegated to getting ticketed by DPT, just like regular nonrobotic cars.
See?
Click to expand
You can’t see the the damage from when Pribot scraped its left side exiting the Bay Bridge, but these days there’s evidence he/she/it has had more driving trouble.
See?
Did Pribot crash into something? Or maybe a careless San Francisco driver backed up too far? Or maybe a human master made a mistake?
(Of course, when you’re making an omelet, as Google is doing in full force in 2011, you’re going to break a few eggs. Anyway…)
Poor Pribot!
All I could do was put a spare Kraftwerk mixtape under one of its windshield wiper arms and then turn to walk away.
Pribot, you were the first, you are the ur-robotic Prius, you are the Jetfire of the autonomous car universe.
Bon courage, Pribot!
Tags: 2008, 3d, 510, 510 Systems, Anthony Levandowski, Anthony's Robots, Autonomous, bay bridge, Berkeley, Beyond Productions, bus, camera, Class 1, contest, DARPA, DARPA's, discovery, Discovery Channel, DPT, engineer, escort, Ghostrider, google, google's, GPS, grand challenge, guidance, hybrid, inertial, infrared, island, laser, lasers, map, Motorcade, mountain view, mta, Oakland, october 15, parking, Pier 7, police, Pribot, prius, Prototype This!, pulsed, pulsed laser, robot, robotic, RTK base station, SFMTA, silver, sponsor, TI, ticket, Topcon, toyota, treasure, treasure island, TV, UC, university of california, University of California at Berkeley, vehicle
Posted in cars, technology | No Comments »
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Our Bomb Squad is world-class, anyway.
At your service:
Click to expand
Tags: 2011, bay area, bomb, bomb squad, california, cops, dept., police, robot, San Francisco, SFPD
Posted in crime | No Comments »
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Somehow this robot call concerned David Chiu as well, I think. Anyway, it looked like this:
Is this how you roll, SEIU? Did I sign up for this?
Don’t think so…
Tags: 2011, 431-8486, bay area, california, call, David Chiu, market, robocall, robot, San Francisco, seiu, street, union
Posted in politics | No Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Our RAND Corporation has a spirited defense of older drivers posted today. Check it:
“Many stop driving in part because they fear they might injure someone else. But the reality is that older drivers themselves are almost six times more likely to be injured in an automobile accident than are drivers ages 25-64. Thus, older drivers face a much greater risk of being harmed from the actions of younger drivers than the other way around.”
So, take that, South Park:
A scene from Grey Dawn
And it looks like cars that can drive themselves is In Our Future:
“Promoting technological innovations, such as autonomous vehicles, that promise to reduce accident rates overall while simultaneously providing older individuals who can no longer drive safely an alternative means of transportation, is likely to have the single greatest impact on the safety and well-being of older drivers and passengers.”
O.K then, learned something new today…
Tags: 2010, A Risk to Themselves, accidents, aged, Autonomous, autos, bay area, california, cars, commentary, Corporation, David Loughran, David S. Loughran, drivers, gray dawn, grey dawn, old, older, RAND, Risk to Themselves, robot, Safe, San Francisco, seniors
Posted in cars | No Comments »
Sunday, January 18th, 2009
First, we had cycloptic Prince Narnias, then we had humanoid Emirates chauffeurs.
Now, MUNI brings us the robotic health professionals of the California Pacific Medical Center.
When their foreheads blink, they’re saying, “I love all humans!” Click to expand.
Tags: ad, bus, california, california pacific medical center, care, doctor, health, healthcare, mta, Muni, nurse, professional, robot, San Francisco
Posted in advertising | Comments Off
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Details are a little sketchy, but the San Francisco Bomb Squad has just picked up a “package” and is taking it on a slow tour through Golden Gate Park. [UPDATE: The whole affair ended "peacefully" per KGO-TV]
Why the scenic route? So if it goes kaboom, it won’t hurt you all.
This was the scene at 6:30 PM, near the de Young Museum. Click to expand:
The starting location on Carl between Frederick and Williard:
Sarge in the front, mortar in the back:
The sticker on the red metal bucket says: “I HEART EXPLOSIVES.” (Don’t we all.) From a couple hundred feet away:
A bald eagle, sticks of dynamite and the Golden Gate Bridge:
Keep up the good work, San Francisco Bomb Squad!
Tags: bomb, bomb squad, cole valley, fire, golden gate park, mortar, police, robot, San Francisco, sffd, SFPD, squad
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Are Older Drivers a Menace on the Roads? RAND Corporation Says No – Are “Autonomous Cars” in Our Future?
Thursday, October 21st, 2010Our RAND Corporation has a spirited defense of older drivers posted today. Check it:
“Many stop driving in part because they fear they might injure someone else. But the reality is that older drivers themselves are almost six times more likely to be injured in an automobile accident than are drivers ages 25-64. Thus, older drivers face a much greater risk of being harmed from the actions of younger drivers than the other way around.”
So, take that, South Park:
A scene from Grey Dawn
And it looks like cars that can drive themselves is In Our Future:
“Promoting technological innovations, such as autonomous vehicles, that promise to reduce accident rates overall while simultaneously providing older individuals who can no longer drive safely an alternative means of transportation, is likely to have the single greatest impact on the safety and well-being of older drivers and passengers.”
O.K then, learned something new today…
Tags: 2010, A Risk to Themselves, accidents, aged, Autonomous, autos, bay area, california, cars, commentary, Corporation, David Loughran, David S. Loughran, drivers, gray dawn, grey dawn, old, older, RAND, Risk to Themselves, robot, Safe, San Francisco, seniors
Posted in cars | No Comments »