Google Self-Driving Car Project

Brought to you by the company that thinks of everything, Google brings us the self-driving car. That's right Google is at it once more with their self-driving car project. The Google Self-Driving Car Project is utilizing technology that gives it the title of fully self-driven. The driver of the car is never required to take over and drive at any time before, during, or after you have reached your destination.

Google states that their reason for wanting to create the self-driving is car "is to transform mobility by making it easier, safer and more enjoyable to get around". The possibilities for those that can no longer drive themselves around are endless. Just imagine the vision impaired being able to get around in a car without relying on anyone else. This could open up a lot of doors for a lot of people who for one reason or another currently do not drive themselves or cannot drive themselves.

Google's new car is completely built by Google. The company first attempted to retro-fit other vehicles to be self-driving but found that just building one from the ground up was the best solution. With the self-driving car there are many items that are not needed that come standard in common automobiles. By building and designing their own car Google can eliminate common parts such as the steering wheel and pedals. This frees up room for the passengers as well as makes room for needed components of the self-driving car. They were also able to configure the vehicle for optimal performance by designing sensors and backup systems where they are needed the most as opposed to placing them where they could on a retro fitted car.

Current testing for the prototype has hit the roads in Mountain View, CA. Google is looking to expanding the testing in other cities in the years to come. Google would like to explore different terrains and climates as well as weather conditions on their new toy.  #self-driving car

Google's self-driving car has accumulated over 1.8 million miles of pavement time on the road. During this the prototype has been in a small number of accidents. Out of those accidents humans were at fault 100% of the time. Google's self-driving mode has to date not caused an accident. The prototype is set for a maximum speed during testing on public roads to a safe 25 mile an hour. The prototypes have safety drivers in them at all times ready to take over in any emergency situation. The safety driver g through a rigorous training schedule before being assigned to their vehicle to sit back and relax as the self-driving car takes them wherever they want to go.