New laser scanners on i3

http://www.bmwblog.com/2014/12/15/bmw-i3-fully-automated-parking-coming-ces-2015/

Hmmmn. I'm wondering is this imminent like when Telsa announced the Autopilot and cars had already been shipping for a few weeks with the cameras and ultrasonic hardware on, but not yet enabled?

I ask becuase I've gone for the driver assist package with the active cruise control and low speed traffic car following. I've seen a few people in the UK get their REX before me even though I ordered mine earlier. Am wondering did they push back my order so I get the new hardware in the next model year?... delivery is due Jan 19th.

Could be a nice suprise. Though as the article says it needs the laser scanning combined with digital site plans of the car park so I don't think it will be much use for a while. Though those laser scanners could come in handy for uses other than car parking. Like Full Autopilot. Yeah... I'm getting carried away. But you never know!

Reading the article it states that this laser technology will be showcased at CES in Vegas on the 9th January, therefore I doubt that it's already being installed into i3 models. If anything it will be more like January 2016. Tesla auto pilot was revealed in the UK back in August however cars with this tech will not be delivered until June 2015.

All Teslas produced in the past 2 months have all the Autopilot hardware installed. Lane Depart Warning is enabled already. All other features will be gradually enabled via Firmware Updates over the air.

Yeah really, I think its a case of wait and see.. the announcement does sound more like a demo of upcoming future tech, not something being fitted already or even ready to be fitted.

Think of the liability issues...it won't happen for awhile, even if it can be demonstrated to work. Then, think about how many floor plans they'd need to digitize to make that viable...you wouldn't want the vehicle going the wrong way down a passageway.

Here's the source of that copy/paste "report."

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/pressDetail.html?title=bmw-innovations-at-the-2015-consumer-electronics-show-ces-in-las-vegas-360-degree-collision-avoidance&outputChannelId=6&id=T0198231EN&left_menu_item=node__4098

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/startpage.html is a worthwhile bookmark if you enjoy the BMW Kool-Aid. The link plays nice with RSS readers.

jadnashuanh said:

Think of the liability issues...it won't happen for awhile, even if it can be demonstrated to work. Then, think about how many floor plans they'd need to digitize to make that viable...you wouldn't want the vehicle going the wrong way down a passageway.

Click to expand...

It would be easier to just turn your self parking car over to a master parking controller in the garage itself. Or hit the memorize button when you first enter the garage, then it would be able to self-park on subsequent visits.

Either way the shift to self-driving vehicles will shutdown the valet parking business once enough people have the technology: when was the last time you saw a pay phone? Same deal here, the taxi/uber business will disappear as far as the drivers end goes along with long and short haul truck drivers. And once we can control cars on the road there is no reason not to drive a robot up and down the aisle of WalMart stocking and cleaning shelves. Autonomous vehicles will be a huge societal disrupter.

Key words there being "research vehicle".