You Google. You use Google Maps. You hold Google’s Android phone. One day, you could be a passenger in “Google Car”. Mere passenger because Google’s latest venture is to remove the driver from the car; it’s a self driving car! This isn’t something new however – there have been many projects to create autonomous cars, and you might have heard of Stanley, the Stanford University developed VW Touareg that won the 2005 DARPA Challenge – but it’s still surprising to hear Google doing this.
The man behind Google Streetview who also worked on Stanley, Sebastian Thrun, is part of the team behind Google Car alongside engineers from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). DARPA is the organiser of the Urban Challenge, which Stanley Junior (a VW Passat Wagon) won in 2007.
Equipped with gadgets like video cameras, radar sensors, a laser range finder, and detailed maps, Google’s fleet of self-driving vehicles have racked up over 140,000 unmanned miles so far. Seven vehicles (six Toyota Prius, one Audi TT) have travelled 1,000 miles without human intervention around San Francisco, going down Lombard Street, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and around Lake Tahoe. Sounds scary, but the fleet only recorded one crash, and that was when one of the Google Cars were rear-ended by another car.
Knight Rider and KITT was a fantasy 20 years ago. The autonomous car may be reality for the masses very soon!
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Be scared. Be very scared…
The joy of driving will be taken away from you. Soon, – no! sooner than you may think, my dear fellow petrolheads..
The war between men and machines has began! Revolt! Revolt! Revolt!!!
one more men excitement to be taken away… sob
pretty awesome scifi stuff if anything
Wow! This is indeed an interesting development.
With autonomous vehicles, there won’t be stupid people slamming their brakes to rubberneck on the highways and causing pile-ups. There won’t be morons hogging the fast lane when they’re driving slow. And hopefully, there won’t be reckless morons who treat highways and trunk roads as race tracks in their noisy modified vehicles.
We can all just dial in the coordinates, kick back, take a nap and expect to be home safe and sound, like Michael Knight in KITT, Van Damme in that ugly car in Timecop, or Arnie in that robotic taxi in The Sixth Day.
If some extremist decides to take out the satellites, you’re in deep kaka. :D
nice…
nice…..
Let the LKPK installed this on every express bus in malaysia to avoid the tragedy like the last two days at PLUS highway.
Installation on EXPRESS BUSES should be the Government`s first step.
no more job for personal driver.. :(
no need to get driving license, no need 2 renew it ! :)
but in case xcdent happened who will responsible?
i have been a follower of new and trendy scientific inventions either on the net or national Geographc/discovery TV etc and i knew a time like this would come when cars will be be auto driven. my pitty is for the third world/developing countries that may never catch up. bravo to the guys.
it should comes with manual override mode.
Jews run the world.
Google.FB.Banks.every damn thing.even the movies!!!!
YIKES!!!!!
I don’t understand why people say this will take the excitement from those who love driving – I see it the other way around. People who love driving will keep on driving, and those who don’t like to drive will embrace this technology if or when it’s made publicly available. I, for one, would rather share the road with computer-controlled machines than with these people. It’s a win-win situation.
Don’t get me wrong. Technology can be a good thing but it can also be bad. I think this is potentially a dumbing down of the human race. Those who grew up in the pre-handphone age is proof. It was no big deal storing 100 phone numbers in your head back then (including area code for outstation ones). How many can claim to remember 10 numbers now?
I know some old engineers who know the log table figures by hard. Any young engineers with that ability?
Same with driving. Pretty soon people will lose that skill too. And when their self-driving car breaks down, they will just crawl to a corner to cry. :D
i love goooogles ;)
It should be first put into our public transport to replace the bas drivver.
Auto pilot might save hundred of life a years in Malaysia highway…
Incident like crush at Seremban on last SUnday evening might able to be avioded…
superb. all cars in mega cities should be the same. no more lane hogging, no more mad drivers flashing from behind with amazing speeds, no more sudden lane change without signal, no potong que…
but how fast will we get such technology in malaysia?
Are you telling me that the cars driving around our neighbour hood are unmand with no driver?????. If so, how can that be when I have seen people driving them.
It is a question that I would like an answer to.
AND if this is true, then why is the public not warned of such an event along with the insurance companies, police etc.
I guess it is something that should be explained better than what is posted by GOOGLE .