This is for ragnar
 

Re: This is for ragnar
 

There's sometimes a good reason why certain interfaces have become widely adopted.

Cars need to be driven over sometimes-bumpy roads. By making it possible for two hands to work together to control the wheel, it's possible to keep good control even on difficult terrain. I doubt a joystick would be as easy.

Also, it's necessary to be able to make fine adjustments yet also to be able to make large changes. Again, the wheel facilitates this.

In a similar vein, I remember going to a motor show in about 1979. There was a prototype on display that combined the accelerator and brake: push to go faster, ease off to slow down. It sounded like a great idea until you actually tried it, then you immediately realised that the widely-adopted system (ease off to coast, separate pedal to brake) is actually pretty good.

Regards,
Roger

Re: This is for ragnar
 

this is horrible for those who actually know how to drive a car(maemo5)

for the avg joe(yes you reading this) though, automatic trans, self braking and drive by wire and probably what you want(android)

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Mwhahahahahaha!

I wonder what their focus groups are saying? Too niche?

Re: This is for ragnar
 

didn't old citroens do something similar??

Re: This is for ragnar
 

By the way, if anybody is wondering, here's the inside-joke reference.

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Give it a couple of years....

The generation that has grown up with video games will be all over this kind of control...

Then the hard part will be emphasizing that it is reality and you don't get to press a button and start over... :eek:

Re: This is for ragnar
 

LOL... ah, the danger of ill-conceived analogies... :D

Re: This is for ragnar
 

The reality is that a computer can shift and brake better than you (and drive by wire is all about weight reduction although it can provide the same feedback as mechanical linkages). As an example, while I assume Button knows how to double clutch (although, being British, he may still call it double declutching), his Formula 1 car has a semi-automatic transmission with flappy paddle (drive by wire) shifters and no clutch pedal.

No matter how good you are, a computer driven car could beat you in whatever video racing game you choose. The only reason to use the word "could" instead of "will" is that they are programmed not to. The only human thing the computer car needs is the ideal line around a track and, right now, cars can't figure that out for themselves.

Re: This is for ragnar
 

i don't have a problem with paddle shifting(its still a manual in my eyes) the key thing is to have that finer control over the trans and engine, I still know better than the comp of when to shift/brake/accel/turn


:D


video games??

Re: This is for ragnar
 

...and that's where the advantage currently ends. ;)

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Currently, yes. Computer programs can't yet figure out how to get to somewhere, just how best to drive once a person tells them where they are going. DARPA's Urban Challenge shows that self driving cars are not here yet:

http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp

OTOH, I would guess that the computer controlled BMW demonstrated on Top Gear drove the course faster than most of us could:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x48...30i_shortfilms

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Cool, a picture:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget....091022-539.jpg

Re: This is for ragnar
 

That looks more like a flight yoke than a joystick.

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Not what I envisioned at all. Thanks for the photo.

Re: This is for ragnar
 

i don't think that's the problem... my navi-computer tells ME how to get somewhere :)

here's your main problem and main field of research for "autonomous vehicles".

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Will we ever get to where computers can avoid potholes, and change the destination on the fly when one gas station has better advertised prices than another?

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Yes, but then we'll need to make sure that their positronic brains are imprinted with some rules.

Re: This is for ragnar
 

Fourth rule - cut off SUVs whenever possible.