AfterDawn: Tech news

Google testing driverless cars

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Oct 2010 4:54 User comments (8)

Google testing driverless cars Google has said this weekend that they have begun testing vehicles that do not need human drivers in an effort to improve road safety.
The driverless vehicles have already traveled over 140,000 miles during testing.

Each car navigates itself by maps and uses cameras, radar sensors and a laser range to gauge traffic, other vehicles and the environment.

"Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use," adds Sebastian Thrun, a software engineer with Google. "While this project is very much in the experimental stage, it provides a glimpse of what transportation might look like in the future."

Google made sure to note that each car had a human at the helm in the test, to ensure safety.

Says CEO Eric Schmidt: "Your car should drive itself; it’s amazing to me that we let humans drive cars. It’s a bug that cars were invented before computers."

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8 user comments

110.10.2010 18:26

Before people begin the obvious of all jokes I will agree..Sounds alot like Skynet but worse..

211.10.2010 04:37

At least skynet would know what road you are on, unlike google maps that thinks you are driving through every building below the interstate, even while the GPS is reporting elevation.

BTW...I have a wall wart made by skynet...it is downright scary that anyone would use that name for a company!

311.10.2010 05:38

ive seen the car they made on top gear(well it was a prototype).looks dreadful.I get annoyed/scared if im in a car with a bad driver i'd probably freak out if i had to get in a car that drives itself.At least when im behind the wheel i have control of the vehicle.

411.10.2010 13:20

Google was been drinking the same power juice M$ has been drinking for over a decade. I guess it never occurred to anyone at Google that we all prefer to dive like maniacs at least some of the time.

First we got plastic bumpers, now they are trying to give us keyless cars but robot cars will be the end of the world. I will say I hope everyone that has a keyless car will either lose their 'clicker' or get it deactivated by a cell phone out in the middle of no where so they can be without a car for several days and pay to have it towed to the nearest dealer for a grand. Keys with computer chips that can also be deactivated by cell phones is bad enough. At least you have the option of hiding a key somewhere in your car.

511.10.2010 15:20

Quote:
it’s amazing to me that we let humans drive cars. It’s a bug that cars were invented before computers."

Haha this guy cracks me up I tell you he's almost as funny as the name of his company.
I love Google i use their services for everything; maps, voice, search, video, you name it if Google has it I use it. But I will never let them drive my car no way.

612.10.2010 00:10

Originally posted by xyqo:
Quote:
it’s amazing to me that we let humans drive cars. It’s a bug that cars were invented before computers."

Haha this guy cracks me up I tell you he's almost as funny as the name of his company.
I love Google i use their services for everything; maps, voice, search, video, you name it if Google has it I use it. But I will never let them drive my car no way.
There are some terrible drivers out there, but just imagine the chaos if just 1% of cars were being guided by google maps!

712.10.2010 07:19

Originally posted by KillerBug:
There are some terrible drivers out there, but just imagine the chaos if just 1% of cars were being guided by google maps!
Agreed!
Probably more accidents. Most accidents are caused when an aggressive driver meets a very conservative driver. I doubt a Google car would have escaped very bad situations I have faced every few years. In one case there was an increatable down pour. I was driving on a interstate there was a deep puddle in the road. The lead driver started to hydroplane, panicked and slammed on the breaks so the car spun out of control. The rest of us can't break and have to avoid the idiot and the other drivers. The idiot took up 2 lanes of course. I took my foot off the accelerator as soon as the first car started to hydroplane. I was the 4th car so the road was almost full and the guy behind me was going a lot faster than I. I had to use hand signals to communicate what the guy behind me should do. He had been going for the shoulder but he was going to hit another car if he did. I indicated I would take the shoulder because I could stop in time. He got to take his chances in the road but it gave him an extra 50 ft by coming behind the idiot. We had no collisions. 1 Google car might have changed that.

812.10.2010 11:52

I wonder if Asians are developing the software, anyone seen that drawn together episode where ling ling has tape on his eyes so he could see better. Then foxy shows you the before and after of how they see the road.

Having a computer drive for you when a computer calculates and human can think and reason. I know Google loves adding that extra inch to the tripod but as said above Skynet is Google.

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