Volvo's self driving car, with no human assistance needed, will be ready in 2020! 4 Years!!

[Orrex]

44. Seriously?

Is that a rock, chunk of wood or is it a paper cup, piece of cardboard in the road?

One would imagine that obstacle recognition will be a basic algorithm for this technology. How to you know if it's a rock, a chunk of wood, a paper cup or a piece of cardboard?

Will it know where those little known prime parking spaces are located?

I can't imagine that the basic user/car interface wouldn't allow some input here. BY default, it will likely optimize for the best parking space based on the destination and conditions at the time of arrival. To be frank, that's kind of a silly objection.

Does it like parking at the front of the lot or the back of the lot?

I can't imagine that the basic user/car interface wouldn't allow some input here. By default, it will likely optimize for the best parking space based on the destination and conditions at the time of arrival.

Will it like to park in the shady spot, or the sunny spot?

Likely this will be an optimization feature available to the user in real time. I expect that the car will present multiple possible parking spaces and will allow the user to select his or her preference.

Can it spot when someone has gotten into a vehicle and is about to leave?

Yes, obviously. The autonomous car will be able to react to the movement of that other vehicle more quickly than a human driver would. And if the other vehicle is also autonomous, then it will probably have some kind of transponder alerting your own vehicle to its movement before it happens.

Can it anticipate when is the best time to change over to the right or left lane?

Yes. The vehicle will make that assessment based on conditions at the time of the lane change, including weather, traffic congestion, road conditions, etc.

Does it know when it's better to avoid the left or right lane altogether?

Almost certainly, based on traffic reports, etc. It will probably even be able to select a different, better route altogether in some cases.

Will it park back in or face forward?

Here, too, the user would likely be able to input a preference in real time, or perhaps set up a standing instruction so that the vehicle always parks in or out. Other than having to load the trunk, what difference would it make?

Will it recognize and overly conform to the signage of local (public or private), and municipal
parking/driving ordinances?

What do you mean by "overly?" The vehicle will obey all appropriate ordinances, yes, just as you should.

What's it going to do when traffic/street/parking lines are faded or non-existent?

It will pick up on other queues. Prototype autonomous vehicles 20 years ago were able to follow oil stains in the road, so one would have to think that the designers have considered this.

What's it going to do when those lines are covered with snow?

What do you do when those lines are covered with snow?

What's it's favorite short cut. Bonus points for knowing at what time of day?

The vehicle will be programmed to optimize safety and to select the most time-efficient route, obviously.

Is it going to slow down (and perhaps stop), when the occupants spots something interesting (and I don't' mean rubbernecking at an accident scene)?

The vehicle will almost certainly have an interface allowing the user to intervene in real time, though the vehicle will likely defer to safety concerns. That is, you can't suddenly slow the vehicle to 30MPH from 70MPH in traffic simply because you want to look at a pretty tree.

Forgive me, but your objections seem rather quaint, like someone complaining that they don't want a smartphone because it won't work with their analog answering machine.