Google driverless car
Encyclopedia
The Google Driverless Car is a project by Google
that involves developing technology for driverless cars
. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun
, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View, whose team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley
which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and its prize from the United States Department of Defense
. The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges.
Lobbied by Google, the Nevada Legislature
passed a law in June 2011 to authorize the use of autonomous vehicles. Nevada
became the first state where driverless vehicles can be legally operated on public roads. The Nevada Department of Transportation
(NDOT) is now responsible for setting safety and performance standards and for designating areas where driverless cars may be tested.
with artificial intelligence
software that combines input from video cameras inside the car, a LIDAR
sensor on top of the vehicle, radar sensors on the front of the vehicle and a position sensor attached to one of the rear wheels that helps locate the car's position on the map. As of 2010, Google has tested several vehicles equipped with the system, driving 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) without any human intervention, in addition to 140000 miles (225,307.6 km) with occasional human intervention, with one of two accidents occurring when another car crashed into the rear end of a test vehicle that was stopped at a red light. Google anticipates that the increased accuracy of its automated driving system could help reduce the number of traffic-related injuries and deaths, while using energy and space on roadways more efficiently.
The project team has equipped a test fleet of seven vehicles, consisting of six Toyota Prius
and an Audi TT
, each accompanied in the driver's seat by one of a dozen drivers with unblemished driving records and in the passenger seat by one of Google's engineers. The car has traversed San Francisco's Lombard Street
, famed for its steep hairpin turn
s and through city traffic. The vehicles have driven over the Golden Gate Bridge
and on the Pacific Coast Highway, and have circled Lake Tahoe
. The system drives at the speed limit it has stored on its maps and maintains its distance from other vehicles using its system of sensors. The system provides an override that allows a human driver to take control of the car by stepping on the brake or turning the wheel, similar to cruise control
systems already in cars.
raised concerns that "The technology is ahead of the law in many areas" citing state laws that "all presume to have a human being operating the vehicle." According to the New York Times
, policy makers and regulators have argued that new laws will be required if driverless vehicles are to become a reality because "the technology is now advancing so quickly that it is in danger of outstripping existing law, some of which dates back to the era of horse-drawn carriages."
Google lobbied for two bills that made Nevada
the first state where driverless vehicles can be legally operated on public roads. The first bill is an amendment to an electric vehicle
bill that provides for the licensing and testing of autonomous vehicles. The second bill will provide an exemption from the ban on distracted driving to permit occupants to send text messages while sitting behind the wheel. The two bills came to a vote before the Legislature’s session ended in June 2011. It has been speculated that Nevada was selected due to the Las Vegas Auto Show and the Consumer Electronics Show, and the high likelihood that Google will present the first commercially viable product at either or both of these events.
However Google executives refused to state the precise reason for Nevada to be the maiden state for their driverless car.
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
that involves developing technology for driverless cars
Driverless car
An autonomous car, also known as robotic or informally as driverless, is an autonomous vehicle capable of fulfilling the human transportation capabilities of a traditional car. As an autonomous vehicle, it is capable of sensing its environment and navigating on its own...
. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun
Sebastian Thrun
Sebastian Thrun is a Research Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and former director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory . He led the development of the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, and which is exhibited in the Smithsonian...
, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View, whose team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley
Stanley (vehicle)
Stanley is an autonomous vehicle created by Stanford University's Stanford Racing Team in cooperation with the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory...
which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and its prize from the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges.
Lobbied by Google, the Nevada Legislature
Nevada Legislature
The Nevada Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house Nevada Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house Nevada Senate, with 21 members. All 63 members of the Legislature are elected from an equal amount of...
passed a law in June 2011 to authorize the use of autonomous vehicles. Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
became the first state where driverless vehicles can be legally operated on public roads. The Nevada Department of Transportation
Nevada Department of Transportation
The Nevada Department of Transportation is a government agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U.S. highways and Interstate highways within the state's boundaries. The department is notable for its...
(NDOT) is now responsible for setting safety and performance standards and for designating areas where driverless cars may be tested.
Overview
The system combines information gathered from Google Street ViewGoogle Street View
Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets in the world...
with artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
software that combines input from video cameras inside the car, a LIDAR
LIDAR
LIDAR is an optical remote sensing technology that can measure the distance to, or other properties of a target by illuminating the target with light, often using pulses from a laser...
sensor on top of the vehicle, radar sensors on the front of the vehicle and a position sensor attached to one of the rear wheels that helps locate the car's position on the map. As of 2010, Google has tested several vehicles equipped with the system, driving 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) without any human intervention, in addition to 140000 miles (225,307.6 km) with occasional human intervention, with one of two accidents occurring when another car crashed into the rear end of a test vehicle that was stopped at a red light. Google anticipates that the increased accuracy of its automated driving system could help reduce the number of traffic-related injuries and deaths, while using energy and space on roadways more efficiently.
The project team has equipped a test fleet of seven vehicles, consisting of six Toyota Prius
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...
and an Audi TT
Audi TT
The Audi TT is a two-door sports car manufactured by the German automaker and Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi since 1998.The Audi TT has been produced in two generations. Both generations have been available in two car body styles; as a 2+2 Coupé, or two-seater Roadster...
, each accompanied in the driver's seat by one of a dozen drivers with unblemished driving records and in the passenger seat by one of Google's engineers. The car has traversed San Francisco's Lombard Street
Lombard Street (San Francisco)
Lombard Street is an east–west street in San Francisco, California. It is famous for having a steep, one-block section that consists of eight tight hairpin turns.-Route description:...
, famed for its steep hairpin turn
Hairpin turn
A hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
s and through city traffic. The vehicles have driven over the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
and on the Pacific Coast Highway, and have circled Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
. The system drives at the speed limit it has stored on its maps and maintains its distance from other vehicles using its system of sensors. The system provides an override that allows a human driver to take control of the car by stepping on the brake or turning the wheel, similar to cruise control
Cruise control
Cruise control is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a steady speed as set by the driver.-History:...
systems already in cars.
Commercialization
While Google had no immediate plans to commercially develop the system, the company hopes to develop a business which would market the system and the data behind it to automobile manufacturers. An attorney for the California Department of Motor VehiclesCalifornia Department of Motor Vehicles
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is the state agency responsible for the registration of motor vehicles and boats and the issuance of driver's licenses in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for regulating new car dealers , commercial cargo carriers, private driving...
raised concerns that "The technology is ahead of the law in many areas" citing state laws that "all presume to have a human being operating the vehicle." According to the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, policy makers and regulators have argued that new laws will be required if driverless vehicles are to become a reality because "the technology is now advancing so quickly that it is in danger of outstripping existing law, some of which dates back to the era of horse-drawn carriages."
Google lobbied for two bills that made Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
the first state where driverless vehicles can be legally operated on public roads. The first bill is an amendment to an electric vehicle
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion...
bill that provides for the licensing and testing of autonomous vehicles. The second bill will provide an exemption from the ban on distracted driving to permit occupants to send text messages while sitting behind the wheel. The two bills came to a vote before the Legislature’s session ended in June 2011. It has been speculated that Nevada was selected due to the Las Vegas Auto Show and the Consumer Electronics Show, and the high likelihood that Google will present the first commercially viable product at either or both of these events.
However Google executives refused to state the precise reason for Nevada to be the maiden state for their driverless car.
Accidents
In August 2011, a humanly controlled Google driverless car was involved in the project's first crash near Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA.See also
- General Motors EN-VGeneral Motors EN-VGeneral Motors EN-V is a 2-seat urban electric concept car jointly developed by Segway and General Motors that can be driven normally or operated autonomously....
- VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge
- Google's RechargeITRechargeITRechargeIT is one of five initiatives within Google.org, the charitable arm of Google, created with the aim to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use, and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles.-History:...
- MIT Media LabMIT Media LabThe MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
CityCarCity Car (Concept)The CityCar or MIT CityCar is an urban all-electric concept car designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. The project was conceived by the late William J. Mitchell and his Smart Cities Research Group. It is now led by Kent Larson, Director of the at the Media Lab... - Nissan PivoNissan PivoThe Nissan Pivo is a concept car created by Nissan. The Pivo was first introduced at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. The car is essentially a 360 degree rotating three-seater cabin on a chassis of 4 wheels, and hence eliminates the need for reversing and makes parking easier.The Pivo is powered by a...
External links
- Sebastian Thrun: Google's driverless car TED Video (March 2011)