• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Google's robot cars pass driving test

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

shinobi602

Member
nevada_2213806b.jpg


Google's autonomous cars have passed their first driving test in Nevada, which included a trip along the famous Las Vegas Strip.

The desert state is the first to grant the vehicles a licence to use public roads. They are controlled by computers processing a combination of mapping data, radar, laser sensors and video feeds.

Officials from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles rode in the cars "along freeways, state highways and neighborhoods both in Carson City and the busy Las Vegas Strip", they said in a statement.

It comes after Nevada passed laws to create a new type of licence for autonomous vehicles last year, which came into effect on 1 March.

The autonomous cars, based on Toyota Prius hybrid hatchbacks, will now be allowed on public roads for further development and testing, carrying a distinctive red licence plate with an infinity symbol on the left side.

“I felt using the infinity symbol was the best way to represent the ‘car of the future',” Nevada DMV director Bruce Breslow said.

“The unique red plate will be easily recognized by the public and law enforcement and will be used only for licensed autonomous test vehicles."

Google is one off several firms racing to develop cars able to drive themselves. It is competing with car manufacturers as well as military firms to develop the technology. The web giant's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has argued that the fact that current vehicles rely on human drivers is a "bug".

"It's amazing to me that we let humans drive cars," he said in 2010 as Google ramped up its research,in partnetship with Stanford University.

As well as Nevada, Google's home state of California is considering laws to allow autonomous cars on its roads.

"The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error," California state Senator Alex Padilla said in March when he introduced autonomous car legislation.

"Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and operating the vehicle more safely."

Source
Click to expand...

i-robot1.jpg
 
I can't wait until auto-driving cars are widely available. I hate city driving.
 
Vehicular accidents are one of the leading causes of human death. The saving made by a society that switch to autonomous vehicles, both directly, (through lower health costs, less maintenance on road infrastructure) and indirectly (less bereavement, less fuel consumption as a consequence of less idling, economic ripple effects) will be great.
 
Fuck yes. It begins.

I was looking forward to the age of personal autonomous transportation for a while now.
Once they start becoming the norm, imagine the shift in car design we'll see.
They'll be like tiny bubbled living rooms, which zip along the highway with zero crashes, zero traffic jams and zero user input while we read the newspaper with a delicious cup of coffee.
 
Best thing about this is that you can do things like read, watch tv and all that while you dri...sit in your car while its moving.
 
I wonder if in the future, these things will be networked as to prevent traffic jams.
 
Big game changer. In the future if you cannot drive your car, will you feel compelled to own it? What if a system of car sharing emerges, something like a more personalized and private public transportation option?
 
MrHicks said:
so you just put in a destination and off it goes?
Click to expand...


Yeah, I saw a demonstration of this on some science show and it's actually pretty neat. The software recognizes all traffic, pedestrians, bikes, road directions, signs, markers and speed laws in a 360 degree radius. It even performs in situations like lane merging quite well.

The interface is pretty standard modern GPS road maps with info on destination and speed.
 
What happens if someone just throws in the window with a rock and tries to steal it? I can't imagine this going well, especially when it drives through 'harder' parts of a town. The car will be destroyed before it even makes one block.
 
sprsk said:
Best thing about this is that you can do things like read, watch tv and all that while you dri...sit in your car while its moving.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Like taking the train, but anywhere. Can't wait.

I bet we'll see it in the Zipcars of the world early.
 
Feature said:
What happens if someone just throws in the window with a rock and tries to steal it? I can't imagine this going well, especially when it drives through 'harder' parts of a town. The car will be destroyed before it even makes one block.
Click to expand...

The same thing that would happen if there was a human driver.

bigmakattack said:
I will stick to driving a car myself. Hate the idea of automated driving.
Click to expand...

You better be driving stick and not using cruise control.
 
Finally I will be liberated from living close to metro-train stations so that I don't feel compelled to drive anywhere drunk!
 
Feature said:
What happens if someone just throws in the window with a rock and tries to steal it? I can't imagine this going well, especially when it drives through 'harder' parts of a town. The car will be destroyed before it even makes one block.
Click to expand...
You think people will just jump out of their houses and demolish the car? Why would a self driving car be at a higher risk?

Dyno said:
Big game changer. In the future if you cannot drive your car, will you feel compelled to own it? What if a system of car sharing emerges, something like a more personalized and private public transportation option?
Click to expand...
I'd really like to see that happen.
 
I am willing to let you know every detail of my personal life if you give me on of these Google.

Hell put a webcam in my bedroom. I don't care. I hate driving!
 
But will the car run crisys?


What OS is under it? Knowing google it will be some flavour of linux no? Can I install apache on it and share things with the passengers around me in a small short network? That would be cool.
 
It's good that they're being very safe about this car. They keep testing the fuck out of it, and it gets better and better. Quick response time too - I saw in one video a lady tested it's braking ability by running out in front of it in traffic.

I think one of the strengths this car has is the ability to network - the creator mentions how ideally there will either be smart roads, or these cards will network together - and the result will be no traffic.
 
Bisnic said:
So you trust humans more than computers when it comes to mistakes/forgot to look at blind spots/driving too fast/go through a red light/etc.?
Click to expand...

If all cars were on a track with only computer driven cars - no.
In unpredictable reality with todays (or near future technology) yes.
 
Lazy Jones said:
If all cars were on a track with only computer driven cars - no.
In unpredictable reality with todays (or near future technology) yes.
Click to expand...

But computer driven cars could react to human negligence far faster than a person could.
 
I love highway driving and traffic-free driving, but hate congested city driving. I'd love this as an option.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Google's Agentic AI wipes user's entire drive
News 
24
1K
Fake replied
Lifetime Plex Pass increasing to $750 from $250
2
53
376
AJUMP23 replied
I'm ready for our robot overlords
31
783
EverydayBeast replied
Russia presented it's first humanoid robot
News  2
67
2K
DirtInUrEye replied
Matt Reeves shares the first camera test shots for The Batman: Part 2
49
576
Chuck Berry replied
Top Bottom