Driver redundant when driving of the Google car

Google has developed an automobile equipped with technology that enables the vehicle to drive without an actual driver. The Google vehicles are Toyota Prius hybrids outfitted with radars, GPS and AI software. The experimental vehicles have driven thousands of miles without human hands on the wheel. The Google vehicle joins plethora of extra-curricular Google projects, including the Google wind farm and others, that have been within the news.

Will Google rule the road?

Human driving decisions are imitated with artificial-intelligence software that processes data thus driving the Google car by itself. According to the NY Times, Google tested 7 automobiles to see how they would do. These vehicles went 1,000 miles by themselves and with an occasional driver intervention could go over 140,000 miles. One of the steepest and most crooked streets in the world is San Francisco’s Lombard Street. The Google car can drive down that by itself. There was only one accident that occurred with the Google auto. It had been at a stop light and somebody rear-ended it, reports the Times.

Wanting a journey too

In a statement about the Google car on the official Google blog the company said its goal is to “help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use.” For making sure it’s positioned correctly in traffic, the Google vehicle utilizes video cameras, radar detectors, a GPS receiver, inertial motion sensor and a laser range finder spinning on the roof. A reporter from the Times was able to test drive the car. This was from the Google’s campus too. The car had been perfect when it came to getting on Highway 101. It went through Silicon Valley easily. A “pleasant voice” was there to announce when crosswalks and turns were ahead while driving through Mountain View following the Google car got off the freeway and took into account the speed limits.

Google taking over with a wind plantation and Health too

Google’s expanding reach was evident Tuesday as the company made headlines for an investment in a $5 billion, 350-mile long underwater power line off the Atlantic coast that will connect wind farms. The Financial Times wrote about the “Google Price Index” as “a daily measure of inflation that could one day provide an option to official statistics.” Google Health is a plan that Google is working on. It wants all medical records to be digitized. The Washington Post reports that Google does not plan to stop. It will use all resources to explore in new directions.

Articles cited

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html?_r=1

Google Blog

googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-were-driving-at.html

Washington Post

voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2010/10/google_the_wind_maker_google_t.html