“Secretary Kerry Sits Inside One of Google’s Self-Driving Cars at the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit’s Innovation Marketplace at Stanford University” flickr photo by GES 2016

     In the past few years, the possibilities of self-driving cars have gone from “impossible” to “commercially available”. Technology has become so developed that the things which we think were impossible, now actually exist. In the past few years Google was working to build the concept of self-driving cars, and in December 2018 Google self-driving car came up under the name of Waymo and it commercially started the service in the suburbs of Phoenix. But it’s just a start, Waymo will increase its availability and capability over some time. 

How did it all start?

     The project was first launched in 2009 by hiring a team of Drupa Challenge veterans, and within 18 months, they developed a secure system that could handle some of California’s most difficult and toughest roads with less human involvement.

How does Google’s self-driving car work?

    It works with several systems which integrate and control self-driving vehicles. These systems are:

  • Radar Sensors: They are plotted in different areas of the car to detect a nearby vehicle’s positioning.
  • Video Cameras: They are the eyes of the car which visualizes the traffic light, keeps an eye on road signals, and other vehicles nearby. It also looks out for pedestrians and other obstacles on the road.
  • Lidar Sensors: Lidar sensor bounce the pulse of light off the car’s surrounding, which helps it to find out the edges of the road and identify’s the lane marking.
  • Ultrasonic Sensor: The sensor is attached in the car’s wheel and detects the position of the vehicle while parking.
  • Central Computer Sensor: All of the data from different sensors are analyzed by the central computer to manipulate the car’s steering, braking, and acceleration.

Why should you choose a self-driving car?

      According to recent studies, 90% of road accidents are caused due to human errors. But the mistakes behind the wheels are often led to severe damage. Safer driving can save that massive number of lives which are lost during unsafe driving. What do self-driving car’s offer to us? Let’s find out:

  • Self-driving cars are much safer as compared to vehicles driven by a human. The independent ones are not affected by illness, driver fatigue, and emotions which make it much safer than a person driving.
  • Autonomous cars are always attentive and active during the drive which makes it reliable for long rides, whereas it is impossible for humans to still be alert especially when driving at night.
  • It provides you with the hassle-free drive where you can enjoy your journey without worrying about the road.

How is google testing their self-Driving cars?

     They are currently being tested on both private tracks and tested on the roads since 2010. During the test drive, there are always two people inside the vehicle, a qualified driver and a Google engineer who monitors the behavior of the system integrated into the car.

     The Google self-driving car has revolutionized the car industry, and now many companies are interested in trying to grab a share from it. In the near future we may be able to own our self-driving car. Does this seem like something you are interested in? Let me know in the comments below!

Want to be a part of the Community?

Become a Member

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
