Editorial StaffGoogle’s car which was released earlier did not have headlights and the current prototype has many sensors and their self drive computers and components of a real car like steering, braking systems to adhere to the road laws. A general overview of Google’s self driven cars is that the projects is headed and lead by Sebastian Thrun with mind-blowing credentials like creating Google Street and director of Stanford Artificial intelligence Laboratory.
Google still awaits a game changing approval from the government so the cars can operate without drivers in densely populated cities and streets. Many researches and records prove on paper that these driverless cars can reduce the annual deaths due to automobile accidents and to improve fuel economy with optimized speeds. Ratna Amin who is the Director of SPUR group has the same belief and vouches cities to be more supportive with infrastructure to support these innovations.
Modern innovations take time to sink into people’s lifestyle and people will utilize and appreciate this concept of driverless cars when it serves them with their needs at times where conventional and routine modes of transport do not suffice. Google is pretty busy testing the prototype in tracks and will hopefully test them soon in the streets of California. The car is said to exceed speed limit by 10 miles/hr for safety reasons and there were new changes in the new prototype which has steering wheels and breaking components. Google has attracted many globally with its cute and funky design and it creates a friendly and a safe car for its viewers.
Google has obtained legal permission from the department of motor vehicles to do some test drives on public roads. They have 107 drivers and 25 test vehicles. Google is appreciated by industry leaders for its brave effort to release its own prototype model rather than fitting cars with their driverless software. Their prototype launch with this cute design has added a humane touch to the vehicle and it proves to a breakthrough innovation promising reduced human causalities which occurs due to mistakes by humans and their behavior in nature. Google promises that in the short future they will be able to build cars in partnerships with major automobile experts and make Mountain View technology’s goal achievable in a short span of five years.
The features their car promise are that they can steer themselves looking out for obstacles and speed accordingly to the speed limits and and move around by stopping and going with perfect adherence to the traffic rules and regulations. San Jose city in California is the first to approach Google to welcome them to their testing on city roads. A special zone is created where testing for various transportation innovations is being carried out. Some of the main components in the prototype are Google maps which provide roadways data, hardware sensors which get real time environment conditions and Artificial intelligence which makes real time decisions for the automobile. A flagship system called LIDAR which is used as remote sensing technology to measure the distance or other aspects of a target by illuminating it with light and by using pulses created from a laser. Google is using all technological advancements they have at their disposal to build a car which transports the passenger from one point to another legally and safely.
Google has also mentioned that reserved car spaces can be reduced with the autonomous cars and the spaces can be used for housing, jobs and public spaces. The seven companies which have been granted access to test drive driverless cars on the public streets in California are some of the giants in automobile industries.
- Volkswagen/Audi: 3 Test Vehicles and 25 drivers
- Mercedes-Benz: 3 vehicles and 12 drivers
- Google: 25 cars with 107 drivers
- Delphi Automotive: 2 cars and 9 drivers
- Tesla motors: 1 car with 2 drivers
- Bosch: 2 vehicles and drivers
- Nissan: 3 vehicles and 9 drivers
Google seems to be working hard towards its goal of releasing driverless cars to ensure passenger safety with minimum human causalities during driving and to ensure peaceful and hassle free transportation. Technology always grows with intellect as long as human beings survive on this planet. Innovations continue to happen, which just blows everyone’s mind in all generations.
Damodar Kalyan
