Google tests technologically advanced self-driving car
Right now the project is in experimental stage and it provides a glimpse of advanced computer science technology. Google researchers said the company did not yet have a clear plan to create a business.
INTERNET AND search engine giant Google has tested a car that drives on its own, on the streets of California. The company had been secretly developing the car that is powered by using artificial intelligence. The officials have already test driven seven such cars for about 1,000 miles without any human involvement and more than 1,40,000 miles with rare human intervention. The cars are equipped with state-of-art technology like video mounted on the roof, radar sensor and a laser range finder to see other traffic.
However, during the test drive, they remain manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control as well as by a software expert. One test car drove itself down Lombard Street of San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the United States.
The forays onto the highways have been largely accident-free, only Google car was reportedly hit from the rear-ended while it halted at a traffic light. All routes were pre-planned, mapped first by real drivers and permission was taken from the local police in advance.
Such conceptually advanced cars may take years to hit the roads, but the people behind this endeavour claim that such cars have the ability of transforming the society at large, the way internet has. Unlike their human counterparts, robot drivers do not get distracted easily by any means. Looking at the safety perspective, this technology can multiply the capacity of the roads, reduce pollution and reduce fuel consumption and can be programmed for different driving personalities.
The project was powered by 43-year old Sebastian Thurn who is the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, a Google engineer and the co-inventor of the Street View mapping service Google and has used using six Priuses and an Audi TT in the project.
Right now the project is in experimental stage and it provides a glimpse of advanced computer science technology. Google researchers said the company did not yet have a clear plan to create a business.
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