Robotic Elder Care

[Hermit]

Too bad there will be no more working people left to pay the taxes to support the robotic care. Seriously -- I'm not against automating what can and should be automated, but we have to factor in the social costs of unemployment and underemployment.

From all my worldly experience, there are plenty of folks out there the would be happy to not work if we would just provide them a small income...

 

[Hermit]

It seems like self driving cars might create a new model of live at home but commute to senior center for social/health/meals.... extending in home living.

So who is going to gas the thing up? I haven't seen a full service gas station in more than a few years.

 

[Amethyst]

Just because somebody can't drive well any more, doesn't mean they can't manage a doggone gas pump! If they can't, well, there will need to be a companion in that there self-driving car.

Actually I am wondering why old people wouldn't just call taxis when they need them, same as they do now. Self-driving cars are unlikely to be cheap to buy and own.

So who is going to gas the thing up? I haven't seen a full service gas station in more than a few years.

 

[Walt34]

I am only 68 and fairly open to new ideas, but not the self driving car. I would imagine that quite a few other seniors would refuse to use one.

I think if you saw an autopilot fly an airplane that might change your mind. I got a front-seat ride on a twin-engine Beech Baron (a VERY nice airplane, and expensive even by airplane standards) that had an autopilot slaved to a GPS navigational system. The day was very windy with a lot of turbulence that would bounce even that Baron around quite a bit.

This was flying in PA, over a rather mountainous region, and for fun we were clearing some mountaintops by maybe 100 feet. (Yeah, pilots often have a strange sense of what is fun.)

The autopilot made that thing fly like it was on rails, making course and altitude corrections in a fraction of the time that any human could possibly have done. It made a believer out of me. I realize that driving a car is much more difficult than flying an airplane because the environment is much more complex and quickly variable.

I'd be open to having a self-driving car. Especially if that was the only option to getting around.

 

[W2R]

When I was recovering from surgery, I couldn't drive, but still got around with Taxi, Uber and friends. I missed my independence and would have been delighted to have a self-driving car as an option.

You are braver than I am.

A lot of folks said they'd never get on one of them newfangled flying machines, either [grin]

Or bother with that fad, the internet.

My paternal grandparents never owned an automobile, or learned to drive. So hey, I can refuse to ride one of them newfangled robot cars.

I think if you saw an autopilot fly an airplane that might change your mind.

It might, although I am thinking there are probably a lot fewer airplanes to avoid in the sky, than cars on the street. A few years of reliable statistics might help, too. Actually my concerns are mostly practical, involving staying in one piece instead of ending up all mushed into a big red puddle on the pavement. I have worked too hard and have survived too many physical dangers, to experience such a dumb end to my life.

 

[Pilot2013]

I think if you saw an autopilot fly an airplane that might change your mind. I got a front-seat ride on a twin-engine Beech Baron (a VERY nice airplane, and expensive even by airplane standards) that had an autopilot slaved to a GPS navigational system. The day was very windy with a lot of turbulence that would bounce even that Baron around quite a bit.

This was flying in PA, over a rather mountainous region, and for fun we were clearing some mountaintops by maybe 100 feet. (Yeah, pilots often have a strange sense of what is fun.)

The autopilot made that thing fly like it was on rails, making course and altitude corrections in a fraction of the time that any human could possibly have done. It made a believer out of me. I realize that driving a car is much more difficult than flying an airplane because the environment is much more complex and quickly variable.

I'd be open to having a self-driving car. Especially if that was the only option to getting around.

I thought, "What!", but then I saw your avatar....

 

[W2R]

So who is going to gas the thing up? I haven't seen a full service gas station in more than a few years.

Electric self-driving car. Just plug it in out there in the garage. Well, if you are brave enough to even get in the thing!

 

[meierlde]

So who is going to gas the thing up? I haven't seen a full service gas station in more than a few years.

Most gas stations provide if you toot the horn in a pattern and are disabled they will fill the gas for you this is required by the ADA

 

[Walt34]

I thought, "What!", but then I saw your avatar....

I took the picture ~35 years ago but my former flight instructor (and a good friend) was flying the Taylorcraft. And yes he's just past the top of a loop.

Side story about that photo. I gave him an 8x10 print and he'd hung it on the wall in his house, but visitors kept insisting that the photo was upside down. But if you do that the lighting is "wrong" because the sunlight is coming from the bottom of the airplane. The dead giveaway is the rudder is in shade and the bottom of the wings are in direct sunlight.

 

[Svensk Anga]

Self-driving cars are unlikely to be cheap to buy and own.

One of the factors in favor of self-driving cars is that there is no need to own one. Just call for one when you need it and it delivers itself. Thus you need pay for only that part of the depreciation and maintenance associated with your own use, a tiny fraction of the cost of operating a solely owned car.

I think this technology alone will keep people in their own homes far longer than was previously the case.

 

[MRG]

After seeing some sensors work on a newer vehicle, I think it will be real. And I'd use it as soon as legal, there's places where people sleep behind the wheel today. I've seen them!


I know today my sister would benefit. She can legally drive but due to glaucoma in one eye she limits where she does.

 

[powerplay]

So who is going to gas the thing up? I haven't seen a full service gas station in more than a few years.

You will not find a self-serve station in my state because it's against the law to pump your own.

 

[Hermit]

One of the factors in favor of self-driving cars is that there is no need to own one. Just call for one when you need it and it delivers itself. Thus you need pay for only that part of the depreciation and maintenance associated with your own use, a tiny fraction of the cost of operating a solely owned car.

I think this technology alone will keep people in their own homes far longer than was previously the case.

And you wouldn't have to worry about gassing it up! Then again, there are quite a few on this forum who are going to have so much money by the time they reach geezer status that owning such a car would not be a problem.

 

[FIREmenow]

So who is going to gas the thing up? I haven't seen a full service gas station in more than a few years.

There are wireless parking pad chargers being introduced today for electrics. Autopilot would only have to park in the right place. ?

Sent from my XT1030 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[Hermit]

Most gas stations provide if you toot the horn in a pattern and are disabled they will fill the gas for you this is required by the ADA

You will not find a self-serve station in my state because it's against the law to pump your own.

I sure am glad the Government is looking out for us mere mortals. I don't know what we would do without them.

 

[O2Bfree]

There's a cute movie, Robot and Frank, about a robot used for elder care. Some of the tasks it performs seem well within the capabilities of today's robots.

 

[harley]

You will not find a self-serve station in my state because it's against the law to pump your own.

I don't go to NJ that often, but every time I do I get yelled at for pumping my own gas. I'm sure glad the state is protecting their citizens and visitors from flaming death. I see people getting torched right and left at all the other gas stations in the country.

 

[MRG]

There's more than one state that doesn't allow you to pump your own. Hey if it's timely service I don't care.

I spent enough of my youth smelling and tasting gas, kerosene and diesel all the time. The smell of any of that stuff makes me ill today.

 

[devans0]

We just purchased an Amazon Dot. We also have a prime membership. Between the two, we've been listening to some news, and much music (most of the day). It times cooking, tells us how cold it is outside and which coat to wear, reminds us of appointments, tells lame jokes, ends arguments about who was president when...in short, well worth it for us. The only upgrade smart device so far is the furnace that we had put in today has a compatible thermostat.

I'm sold on their early capabilities, and expect a whole set of devices with tangible useful capabilities being sold soon.

As for cars, I have the money but am waiting to buy a car until they can drive me around.

 

[harley]

There's more than one state that doesn't allow you to pump your own. Hey if it's timely service I don't care.

I spent enough of my youth smelling and tasting gas, kerosene and diesel all the time. The smell of any of that stuff makes me ill today.

It's only Jersey that has it totally banned. Oregon used to, but recently changed the law to allow it in rural areas. And that's it. As far as the service, the only time I've seen it be fast is the times I started pumping my own. That brings them running.

It will be interesting to see how long NJ continues their ban. The only reason it worked in the first place was that their tax on gas was the lowest in the country, which combined with being the biggest port of arrival for fuel has kept the price approximately even with the rest of the country. With the new 23 cent tax added, the price will skyrocket and I suspect there will be more pressure to allow cheaper self service.

You can always get full service if you want it. If it's a winner in the open market, there would be lots of full service stations around the rest of the country. But I haven't seen them.

Also, with much better pumping tech than we had as kids, I seldom smell the gas. And I've got a pretty sensitive nose, and don't like the smell myself. Now for our diesel VW, there's lots of room for improvement. Stinky stuff, but worth it for the 45 mpg.

 

[meierlde]

Today autos themselves have vapor recovery systems, and pumps have vapor recovery systems as well so there are far fewer fumes released. I recall in the old days in one could see a shimmering cloud escape from the fuel fill location when the tank was filled. That has gone away, along with the smell.

 

[growing_older]

One of the factors in favor of self-driving cars is that there is no need to own one. Just call for one when you need it and it delivers itself. Thus you need pay for only that part of the depreciation and maintenance associated with your own use, a tiny fraction of the cost of operating a solely owned car.

I like the idea of car sharing on demand, but I'm also thinking that there is a big difference between the state of a privately owned car and a public accommodation like a bus or a subway. Vehicles that are open to anyone will need to be built to sustain the damage inflicted by the general public, not to mention being sluiced out after the evening drunk runs home from bars. Ask Uber drivers about the problems of passengers being sick in their cars. A call-on-demand self-driving car would probably be even worse, since the Uber driver can at least refuse to accept the ride if the passengers are heavily intoxicated. A self-driving car would need to be cleaned regularly or it would be disgusting fast. I see a large market for private self-driving cars even after they are in common usage.

 

[Badger]

So who is going to gas the thing up? I haven't seen a full service gas station in more than a few years.

How about the car is electric and just backs into a charging station like a Roomba vacuum cleaner.

Cheers!

 

[NW-Bound]

"HAL, please change my diaper." What could possibly go wrong....

I can see a horror movie where robots crush some infirm elderlies to death.

 

[Pilot2013]

I like the idea of car sharing on demand, but I'm also thinking that there is a big difference between the state of a privately owned car and a public accommodation like a bus or a subway. Vehicles that are open to anyone will need to be built to sustain the damage inflicted by the general public, not to mention being sluiced out after the evening drunk runs home from bars. Ask Uber drivers about the problems of passengers being sick in their cars. A call-on-demand self-driving car would probably be even worse, since the Uber driver can at least refuse to accept the ride if the passengers are heavily intoxicated. A self-driving car would need to be cleaned regularly or it would be disgusting fast. I see a large market for private self-driving cars even after they are in common usage.

I tried "Plane Partnership". That was difficult enough even though it sat most of the time.... I'll pass on the idea of co-ownership in a car.