That’s the Isuzu-branded version of the Trailblazer/Envoy . . . ?
I don’t see too many of those, compared with the Trailblazer and Envoy
Wow! Could it be? And here I thought it was rear-ended in a collision. 
CSA
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uh huh . . . 
Recently, I’m taking an online course in machine learning and neural network completely overturn my believes about engineering. BTW, anyone who has a foundation in vector calc and linear algebra should check it out.
Anyways, there are many cases where the amount of variables that may or may not affect the behavior of a system is too overwhelming for humans, including engineers, to analyze. There are too many cases where it is just not feasible for a programmer to convert a given input to a desired output using traditional logic. Instead, we now feed an algorithm with a bunch of raw data, compare the algorithm’s predicted output with the expected output, and let the algorithm works out how to minimize the error.
Our technology is too complicated because our demands are increasing. 20 years ago when I was in engineering school, we were taught that we could not set cruise control below 25 mph because the engine and transmission were too nonlinear to model using traditional control theory. Machine learning can handle nonlinear relationships. We can now program the computer by showing it how a human would drive in heavy traffic and it will brake a car all the way to a stop and start again.
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Have you watched any of the videos of early autonomous car learning? They are fairly entertaining watching them make mistakes and self-correct. It was also quite impressive to see how fast they learned and how good they became after relatively few miles of “experience” under their tire belts…
I used to think autonomous vehicles were a bad idea but then realized how bad people drive these days. Sure, there will be problems and already have been. These always get reported in the news. What doesn’t get reported are all the people driving the wrong way on roundabouts and crashing because they are dumb.
Nothing is perfect but I see a computer doing a better job than most drivers these days.
As for the roundabouts, we got them here in town several years back. I thought this was great at first and then I saw how other people reacted to them. I figured it would get better but it didn’t. People just drive like complete idiots through these things…
I have yet to see someone go through one the wrong way but have heard others tell me they have seen this many times. You must go through one or two of these things, depending on how you go, to get to a new area of big box retail stores in my town. I have to deal with some idiot 50% of the time when going to these stores. I had a really bad experience on the way to Menards and had to spout off to some employees there. They just shook their heads and were all like “We all have to deal with it on a daily basis.” One employee had a story about meeting someone coming at them the wrong way. They both stopped but were nose to nose. The wrong way driver starts honking, flashing their lights, and inching forward. Finally the Menards employee just backed up going the wrong way and let the wrong way driver through!
The roundabout seems like as a simple and elegant setup but people can sure mess it up!
As I said, I used to think self-driving cars were a bad idea but after seeing these types of things in person and hearing about similar stories quite often, I feel computers can probably do it better than humans. An added bonus is that people can text and send social media messages just like they do when they should be driving without causing trouble for others.
So, there may be additional complexity to certain things but I think this is one situation where it might overall simplify driving as a whole.
Re roundabouts; at one end of the problem are those who expect and demand that they always be given the right of way regardless of circumstances and they just go blasting ahead. And in total contrast are those who are timid and nervous who want to wait until someone takes charge and directs them how and when to move. And for the majority of people who can deal with roundabouts with no great problems those in the minority from each group of problem drivers rule with chaos.
The most chaotic roundabout that I have dealt with was in New Orleans. The diameter is so small that even considerate, hospitable drivers are outraged as buses get involved along with tourists enjoying the French Quarter.
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Roundabouts work fine in low volume traffic. High volume traffic they are a nightmare. Concord MA, the Rt 2 Rotary. The law states that people in the Roundabout have the right-of-way. But if people obeyed the law then then people coming from 2a would sit for hours waiting for the traffic to clear. I avoid that roundabout like the plague.
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There is an alternative to following the roadway! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTk_kPeA63c
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That’s a riot.
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About a year ago, I was trying to negotiate a Roundabout in my area that is notorious for fender benders. The traffic was totally tied-up, and it took a while for me to see what the problem was. It turned out that somebody in an old Lincoln Continental was about 1/2 way around the circle when he apparently attempted to turn right 
against the flow of traffic.
His car was still sitting at a bizarre angle across one of the roundabout lanes when the police arrived to sort things out. Those self-driving cars are beginning to look better and better…
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Here in my town of East HorseChester, our town politicians went on an excursion to the big city of New Roquefort and experienced roundabouts for the first time. Our wonderful town politicians figured that roundabouts would be great for East HorseChester, so now East HorseChester has four roundabouts. Three of them are just one lane, easily negotiated and have really helped traffic flow, especially in the late afternoon when people are in a hurry to get out of East HorseChester. The downtown roundabout is multiple lane and rather confusing. However, since there isn’t much in downtown East HorseChester, the roundabout doesn’t cause a problem. I think our beloved city leaders wanted East HorseChester to look as sophisticated as New Roquefort so we could attract businesses. A community must be thriving if it has a roundabout.
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Of course I’ve seen the video of autonomous car learning how to drive. These machine learning algorithms are not new. The theories were floating around in the 80s. But the computers had neither the speed or the memory to learn.
Regarding roundabouts, I think there needs to be more police presence to “supervise” the learning of the drivers. They don’t necessarily have to sit there as they can monitor the intersection with a drone
We have the other problems with roundabouts in China. Everyone knows how to drive the right way around it. But no one would yield. The problem becomes so serious that they put traffic light to control the flow
Man, that’s funny. All that way back to the 80s huh? No, machine learning goes back much further than that. We were programming pretty advanced expert systems back in 70s and there were guys well before my time working inference engines. I learned my beginnings from one. Although we didn’t have much memory by today’s standards, we were more frugal with its use and it never seemed to be a huge limitation. What followed we called bloatware. But that really has no bearing on the reason I brought up the fairly recent, at least from my perspective, videos of cars learning to drive. It was for the humor. The “history” lesson was entertaing as well…
There use to be a roundabout here In Chelmsford MA (Drum Hill Rotary). About 10 years the town rebuilt the rotary to be more of a square with traffic lights at each corner of the square. Also added several lanes. Before the change the town was averaging over 400 reported accidents a year. Since the change they’re averaging less then 20.
The one to which I referred was rebuilt–probably at least a decade ago–and it now includes a flyover for the traffic on the main highway. That leaves multiple smaller roads that feed into the roundabout below, and while the number of accidents definitely dropped after the addition of the flyover, there are still a significant number of fender benders there.
What complicates matters even further is the fact that the roundabout lies partially in one town, and partially in an adjacent town. When the police from one town respond to an accident call, they often have to radio for a car from the other town because the collision took place outside of their jurisdiction.
Yes it is and it is still running great at 150000 miles . Best engine I have owned in 40 years .
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