This technology is obviously beginning to work out. Going to a purposed vehicle is the obvious
next step as the retrofit model clearly expands difficulties.
I see three massive markets for this technology. The passenger car is the one we all want, but
right behind that we have the long haul trucking industry which is dependent on
biologically over extended human beings.
That needs to end and not for the cost saving.
All this leaves the problem of foul weather conditions to
overcome, but believe it or not, a modest reduction in speed does wonders for
vehicle handling without seriously damaging schedules. This was never possible for the human driver
simply because he is only good for a limited time frame. A computer can simply run the extra several
hours.
The third massive market will turn out to be the airship
hauling container traffic. The problem
with that business plan has always been the need for manpower. Make that disappear and long haul trucking is
toast. The airship is faster and lacks
running vibration as well. Better, it is
a point to point delivery system.
Google takes its first 100 percent self-drive car to the streets
May 28,
2014
Google has revealed its
first self-driving car prototype, which as you guessed requires no driver. The
prototype accommodates for two passengers and is missing quite a few of the
features you'd expect to see in a standard car. With no need for a steering
wheel, mirrors or braking and accelerating pedals, the car comes fully equipped
with special software and sensors that feed information into an onboard
computer, which then drives the car.
Google has been experimenting with autonomous driving
technology since 2010, which allows cars to drive themselves. In the past the company
has experimented with retrofitting ordinary cars with video cameras and radar
sensors, linked to a detailed
mapping system, which allows the car to navigate through urban streets and
traffic without the assistance of a driver. Now the first completely new build
self-driving prototype has been developed.
Focusing on safety,
Google's self-driving prototype features sensors that can "see"
beyond blind spots and detect other vehicles, objects, pedestrians and
landmarks within a 360 degree radius that spans approximately the length of two
football fields.
"In a normal car
there’s power steering and power brakes, and if the power steering fails, as a
strong person you can use your muscles as a fallback to still steer the
vehicle", Google's Chris Urmson told re/code in a recent interview. "In our car there is no
steering wheel so we have to design really fundamental capabilities. So we have
effectively two motors and they work so if one of them fails the other can
steer, so the car can always control where it’s going, and similar with
brakes."
The car also features
collision protection for both its occupants and pedestrians, including a foam
exterior and flexible windshield. During the testing phase of this new
technology, Google has capped the vehicle's maximum speed to 25 mph (40 km/h)
in order to minimize any potential danger.
The interior of the
vehicle has also been kept simple and practical for testing purposes. There are
two comfortable passenger seats, with seatbelts and spacious leg room; a small
storage compartment, stop and start buttons positioned in the center console
and a navigation screen displaying the planned journey.
Google has plans to build
a further 100 self-drive cars within the year, with safety tests to commence
over the (Northern Hemisphere) summer.
"If all goes well,
we’d like to run a small pilot program here in California in the next couple of
years," says Google. "We’re going to learn a lot from this
experience, and if the technology develops as we hope, we’ll work with partners
to bring this technology into the world safely."
Check out the new Google
self-driving car in the video below.
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