Google's autonomous vehicle research has come far over the five years since the Silicon Valley giant started down the road. Though more is yet be accomplished before the future comes, Google is ready to move forward with the next phase of its research work: jumping from test units into the real world.
Automotive News reports in a rare media presentation held last week, Google's autonomous vehicle boss Christopher Urmson stated his company talks to automakers often about how best to bring what Google has to offer to the public:
It has to be at a price point where the value to the customer exceeds the cost to the customer. We're working on that.
Urmson added that such technology would not come to market until it was ready with all safety issues have been worked out to the best of Google's ability, proclaiming the driver needs to be able to trust the technology before letting the vehicle take the wheel.
Said autonomous technology has been developed through the use of GPS and 3D mapping systems linked to a roof-mounted laser that scans the environment around the vehicle. So far, 2,000 miles of road — within reach of Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. — have been mapped out and traversed, but with over 4 million miles of road in the United States, the search engine giant has more work to go before the autonomous Nexus Auto is ready for primetime, which Urmson expects will come by the time his son turns 16 in 2020.
from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA
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