Google to Roll out Cars that Drives by Itself
By Dipankar Das, Gaea News NetworkMonday, October 11, 2010
Google announced that the company tested a self-driven car that travels 14,000 miles on the street of California. According to software engineer Sebastian Thrun, the car uses video cameras on the rooftop, radar sensors and a laser range finder to maneuver through other traffic. However, there is a driver in stand-by mode as well as a software expert to take control.
They car goes through San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate bridge, passed the city’s famous sloping streets, driven between Google offices, and made it around Lake Tahoe. Routes are pre-planned, mapped first by real drivers, and local police are informed ahead of time, he said. Sebastian also quoted figures from the World Health Organization which show that more than 1.2 million people are killed each year on the roads, and the number can be reduced after using self-driven car.