Technology giant Google has much bigger plans for the world than just operating the most popular search engine on the internet; from the launch of the Google+ social networking site to the upcoming Google TV from Samsung, the Google brand is on a push to become a daily part of multiple aspects of most peoples lives. One of their most interesting projects comes in the form of a car that does not require a driver.
Google’s Driverless Car has been in the road testing stage since 2010. There are currently seven different cars that are equipped with the driverless technology, including an Audi TI and six of Toyota’s Hybrid Prius. Each of these cars has been fitted with a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor, which is placed on the top of the vehicle, along with radar sensors, video cameras, Google Street View, a position sensor and Artificial Intelligence software. All of these things combine to enable the vehicle to quite literally drive itself. Over 140,000 miles have been logged by the test vehicles, 1,000 of which have included no human involvement.
Although the vehicles have been involved in two accidents, neither of them was found to be the fault of the driverless technology. The research and development team behind the Google Driverless Car has pointed out the many positive social, economic and environmental impacts that their design may lead to, including providing individuals with physical disabilities with a new form of transportation. The developers have also stated that driverless cars have the potential to be a much safer alternative than human operated vehicles as the driverless technology will never get tired or distracted.
Google has not announced any plans to make their Driverless Car available for purchase and with the LIDAR alone carrying a price tag of $75,000 a lot of changes will need to happen before the car will be ready for the general public. Google is not new to the automobile market as their popular Android brand has been included in several vehicles to date. The Android technology allows passengers to surf the web via a built in GPS system. It’s a virtual certainty that this technology would be high in demand within a driverless vehicle and now that the state of Nevada has officially made such cars legal for street driving, it’s only a matter of time before the self controlled Google car goes into full production.
Top Photo: Steve Jurvetson
Guest Author: Jason Pressley
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