Google testing self-driving car

[Drakonis]

Will they fly too?

A post on the official Google blog has revealed that Google is in the testing phases with the design of a self-driving car. Google is aiming to “prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use” with the technology that they have developed for a fully-automated vehicle

[Sojourn]

Been done before, so what is different this time round?

[Drakonis]

I understand that Google wants to makes automated vehicles a consumer product rather than just running this as an automation/robotics experiment. Google does have the mapping resources to make this a reality but then again, do you really want to turn over another part of your life to Google, no matter how philanthropic they may seem?

[StarBound]

After everythings been said and done the end result is why bother owning a car? If its gonna drive itself then no point in owning it so you would rather rent it or subscribe to a transport service. Taking it a step back then it's for public transport system which SA simply doesnt have and I doubt google maps covers dirt roads.

Ideally having a system that picks you up from your home to the departure point then from departure point through a highway or something to the next station then another system that takes you from there to your job or destination would be the future.

It's not gonna happen. Take airlines for example. They overbook all flights. The only time you find this out is when your stuck on Heathrow airport after paying for the tickets only to find out you need to RE-reserve your spot 24hours before a flight.

[Sojourn]

Star, it's fine to be an outright naysayer, after all, everything that can be invented has been invented. - quote by Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

[StarBound]

I didnt get my titles by doing nothing Although I dont know how I earned it.

While the idea of reducing road accident ect the problems surrounding it still exists. The first, what happens if the car runs out of power or disconnects from its processing server? What happens if the program crash while speeding down a high way at 80mph/120kmhp? You can argue that it would be like the driver falling asleep behind the wheel if you want. If the system works I am pro for it. First things in SA that needs to go is taxi drivers followed by truck drivers. Imagine trying to hijack an automated car?

[Anakha56]

An update for everyone...

http://www.hardocp.com/news/2010/10/11/ ... ry_update/

Here’s an interesting update to that self-driving car story we posted yesterday. Apparently the self-driving car was caught on video almost a year ago but the guy just thought it was a new kind of StreetView car. Nice to know Google tests self driving cars on the roads with the rest of us.

[StarBound]

Imagine it gets pulled over by the police and the car starts chatting to him.

[Ron2K]

Imagine it gets pulled over by the police and the car starts chatting to him.

K.I.T.T.?