Pedestrians are a hard problem for self-driving cars—here’s one solution

Enlarge (credit: Perceptive Automata)

Pedestrians pose one of the biggest challenges for self-driving cars. Other cars mostly behave in predictable ways, but pedestrians can be more erratic. They can move in any direction, at any time, with little warning.

Fortunately, we humans are experts at understanding the behavior of other people. Human drivers can easily distinguish someone who is trying to cross the road in front of us from someone who is waiting for the bus or focused on his cell phone.

And that allows human beings to be smooth, confident drivers. If we pass a sidewalk full of pedestrians, we can tell at a glance if any of them are preparing to step in the road. If not, then we know it's safe to maintain our speed.

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