Delivery McGee posted:

Also, Gurney and Yates did it in 35h 54m, the current unofficial record holder is Alex Roy at 31h 04m -- in a BMW with all manner of modifications, including a suite of radar detectors/jammers, military-surplus gyrostabilized binoculars for the codriver to watch for cops, and IIRC (or if not, he should have had), additional fuel cell in the trunk with a second filler neck so they could fill from both sides at the same time.

quote:

Edit: Wanna fly out to LA and get a '96 Buick Roadmaster wagon cheap, add whaleskin hubcaps and a fuel cell in the back that could serve as a swimming pool for children, and try to beat Alex Roy. Because the stops for refueling seem to be the part that slows you down, if you do 85 all the way without having to stop for gas as much, it's as good as doing 175 and stopping for gas every two hours.. So get a gas tank to fill the cargo space of a station wagon. It gets maybe 15mpg flat out, and still has a queen-size bed for the codriver.

boner confessor posted:

it seems obvious to me that the car in fact didn't flag an obstacle, which is why it kept driving. not this weird scenario you're describing where it saw an unknown obstacle but didn't classify it as the right kind of obstacle. just think about what you're trying to say i guess

boner confessor posted:

yeah it does. the lidar is constantly scanning the environment, looking for things that matter (cars, people) and things that dont (trash cans, buildings) and it most like incorrectly sorted a person as not-a-person

Splode posted:

Wrong dipstick is a pretty big deal then!

quote:

The FIU bridge was a truss bridge, its designers, the FIGG Bridge Group, confirmed after the collapse. Many have assumed it was a suspension bridge because renderings of the finished structure show a mast with pipes or cables connecting from its tip to the bridge in a sail-like pattern. Observers, including some engineers, have posited that had the mast been in place, the bridge might not have collapsed.

But in fact the mast would have provided no vertical support. FIGG advertised that as a “cable-stayed” bridge, and plans and other materials on the FIU website say the mast was there mostly to dampen vibration, provide some “stiffness” and create dramatic aesthetics.

After studying the engineering drawings on the website with colleagues, Verrastro confirmed the mast had no role in holding up the bridge.

“They definitely didn’t need it,” he said. “It’s there mostly for looks.”

wolrah posted:

The current record is actually 28:50, set by Ed Bolian in a CL55 AMG equipped with two additional fuel cells.
https://jalopnik.com/meet-the-guy-who-drove-across-the-u-s-in-a-record-28-h-1454092837
https://jalopnik.com/here-s-the-data-from-ed-bolian-s-record-setting-cross-c-1648466595

I've had the same thoughts, but my idea was to use a "hotshot" style 2WD pickup truck set up for efficient long-distance towing. Since it wouldn't actually be towing anything the hitch could be removed and the bed could be filled with auxiliary fuel. Tires that can take the load while cruising around 100 MPH would be the hard part.

Phanatic posted:

All the moreso because wing tanks are very broad and shallow in aspect, so a small error in depth of fuel in the tank leads to a large error in calculated weight.

Bridge chat: That cable-stayed bridge at FIU wasn't actually a cable-stayed bridge at all. It was a plain old fracture-critical through-truss bridge, with the cables being primarily decorative. You don't build road bridges like that anymore because it's easy for a vehicle collision to break one of the truss members, and cause failure of the entire bridge, but they did it in this case because it was a footbridge and they figured it'd be pretty unlikely for that to happen.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/west-miami-dade/article206122229.html

Jabor posted:

all your posts have been about "didn't see her as a person", which is a very different thing. for example:


like, what are you suggesting here that the car would/should do if there was a trash can in the middle of its lane?

chitoryu12 posted:

So the original theory was that the bridge was put into place without supporting cables, which is why it fell. Does this mean now the bridge itself was severely hosed from the design or construction phase?

quote:

He also pointed to one possibly significant difference between the FIU bridge and a traditional truss bridge: It was made of heavy concrete, not much lighter steel. That decision is justifiable because concrete is far easier and less expensive to maintain than steel, looks better and lasts far longer. FIGG advertised the structure as “a 100-year bridge,” and Verrastro said that’s likely accurate.

He said that neither the length of the span nor its 950-ton weight should be an issue, because its design engineers would have ensured it had enough tensile strength to be self-supporting, with support pylons only at either end.

That would explain why there were no temporary supports while the bridge was finished, and could also explain the decision not to close the Tamiami Trail while workers tightened rods or cables inside the concrete, he said. Unless there was visible or measurable sagging of the structure, indicating damage, such tensioning strengthens the bridge.

In engineers’ minds, Verrastro said, “there should not be an issue, because you’re just making it stronger.”

But what the engineers may not have known, the faceless Canadian YouTuber suggests, is that the steel inside the struts could have been damaged. His evidence: photos showing a steel rod protruding from the top of the bridge canopy with a blue hydraulic jack — equipment used in tensioning support cables or rods inside concrete — still attached. A subcontractor crew member working on that spot fell to his death when the bridge collapsed.

In the video, the Canadian runs a demonstration showing how a steel rod undergoing tensioning will suddenly snap and shoot out of the jack if stressed beyond its capacity.

The video lays out further evidence: Drawings on the FIU website show how the bridge span, which was prefabricated by the side of the trail over a period of months, was to be moved into place using four powerful lift trucks. The technique, known as accelerated bridge construction, significantly reduces the time a road must be closed to traffic.

In the plans, two trucks would be placed side-by-side at either end, lined up under spots where the vertical trusses met in a joint, the Canadian noted. But video of the actual move shows one of the trucks at the north end, where the bridge appears to have failed, was moved farther towards the middle of the span, leaving the end unsupported. The Canadian says in the video that’s because a road divider or dip in the surface would have made it difficult for the truck to be positioned properly.

His source is not clear. But the Associated Press said in a story Tuesday that the Florida Department of Transportation ordered the northern support pylon be moved 11 feet to make room for future expansion of the trail. That required a design change that lengthened the span — and put the support pylon in the dirt well off the edge of the roadway, which could also explain why the northernmost truck could no longer follow its original planned route.

As the bridge was moved, stress points on the structure were constantly monitored with sensors.

But the weight of the unsupported end could have placed enough stress on the last diagonal strut — the one being worked on when the bridge fell — to damage the rod inside it and loosen the tension on it, the Canadian AvE says in his YouTube video. It would also explain cracking that appeared on the north end of the bridge that a FIGG engineer reported to FDOT on Tuesday, although he concluded that it posed no safety concerns. Cracking in new concrete is not uncommon, and could be superficial or a sign of deeper trouble.

Shinmera posted:

https://twitter.com/dlffldk/status/975939034265473024

boner confessor posted:

hey trash cans generally dont move guy. sorry i used an example that completely baffles you. i'm going to stop responding to you now

boner confessor posted:

hey trash cans generally dont move guy. sorry i used an example that completely baffles you. i'm going to stop responding to you now

a kitten posted:

Speaking of replacing thumbs with toes....

Mark Pauline blew his thumb off and replaced it with a toe ages back.


Who's that? He and his artist collective Survival Research Laboratories have been making horrifically dangerous machines and having then fight to the death since the 80s as industrial performance art.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cp7aD0q63g

Fabulousity posted:

Was that Divine at the wheel? I thought she was dead?

shortspecialbus posted:

Why are people still responding to him? What even is his argument at this point, aside from contradicting random unimportant bits of what others say? Is there even a coherent overall argument, or is the idea just to be contrarian?

Moving back to the bridge, I'm surprised to find it wasn't designed as a cable stay bridge. A lot of people apparently got that wrong.

a sexual elk posted:

I just started as a longshoreman at the Los Angeles/ Long Beach ports, what you got for me OSHA thread?

Trabant posted:

I'm afraid I don't have anything, I'm just kinda surprised your job still exists. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I was under the impression that the container + automation had pretty much wiped out longshoremen.

Tumble posted:

It's gonna be super funny when the next person to set the record does it in a hybrid Camry.

a sexual elk posted:

I just started as a longshoreman at the Los Angeles/ Long Beach ports, what you got for me OSHA thread?

a sexual elk posted:

I just started as a longshoreman at the Los Angeles/ Long Beach ports, what you got for me OSHA thread?

His Divine Shadow posted:

They can also turn your index finger into a thumb via procedure called pollicization.

Perestroika posted:

Facebook Aunt posted:

Neat, they can turn you into a cartoon character.

chitoryu12 posted:

Still can't get over the idea of:

"Look, I know you just lost this one by accident. But I promise if you let us cut off this other one we'll put it right back"

Say Nothing posted:

Imagined posted:

As I understand it, one of the main benefits of AI drivers would be to have cars moving at speed impossibly close to each other. I would think even watching that would be unbearably stressful. Like I wouldn't even want a window if my car is doing 80 mph three inches from another car's bumper.

Main Paineframe posted:

This isn't actually true, it was dreamed up by AI fanboys who gave absolutely zero thought to practical considerations. Even if every single car is networked and warning each other in advance of any planned movement, the laws of physics still put significant constraints on the cars' ability to react to unplanned movements. Unless you're placing physical barriers around literally every road, it's dangerous to assume that everything that will ever be on the road is networked.

Say Nothing posted:

haveblue posted:

Even if you do put up physical barriers and network everything, what happens when the car six inches in front of you has a mechanical failure that suddenly cuts its speed?

haveblue posted:

Even if you do put up physical barriers and network everything, what happens when the car six inches in front of you has a mechanical failure that suddenly cuts its speed?

EoRaptor posted:

Some quick analysis of the Uber fatality vs what is expected of a human driver on the road.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/03/video-suggests-huge-problems-with-ubers-driverless-car-program/

hobbesmaster posted:

Perhaps some sort of mechanic coupling between the vehicles on this grade separated track would be best?