GOOGLE
Industryweek 7955 Cutegooglecar
Industryweek 7955 Cutegooglecar
Industryweek 7955 Cutegooglecar
Industryweek 7955 Cutegooglecar
Industryweek 7955 Cutegooglecar

Google's Self-Driving Car is Ready to Hit the Road

Dec. 22, 2014
Google will open 2015 by zipping around the streets of Northern California in its adorable autonomous cars.

Google announced Monday that the first completed prototype of its self-driving car is ready to be road tested.

"We're going to be spending the holidays zipping around our test track, and we hope to see you on the streets of Northern California in the new year," the Internet titan's autonomous car team said in a post at Google+ social network.

The prototype is a manifestation of plans that California-based Google revealed in May to build its own autonomous car minus typical features such as steering wheels.

"They won't have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal... because they don't need them. Our software and sensors do all the work," Google's Chris Urmson said in a blog post in May.

Technical specifics about the prototype were not disclosed on Monday.

For Google, the car marks a shift away from adapting vehicles made by others in its quest to pioneer individual transport that needs only a stop-and-go function.

Google said early this year that the top speed of the battery-powered prototypes will be 25 per hour and that they would be designed for utility, not luxury.

The blog post on Monday showed a white, rounded bug-looking vehicle.

"We've been working on different prototypes-of-prototypes, each designed to test different systems of a self-driving car -- for example, the typical car parts like steering and braking, as well as the self-driving parts like the computer and sensors," Google said.

"We've now put all those systems together in this fully functional vehicle --our first complete prototype for fully autonomous driving."

Several automakers have been working on autonomous or semi-autonomous features for cars, such as self-parking, but no fully autonomous car has come to market.

"Self-driving cars, if widely adopted, stand to be as transformative to consumer life as the smartphone," said Mike Hudson, who tracks the automotive industry for eMarketer.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2014

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

Empowering the Modern Workforce: The Power of Connected Worker Technologies

March 1, 2024
Explore real-world strategies to boost worker safety, collaboration, training, and productivity in manufacturing. Emphasizing Industry 4.0, we'll discuss digitalization and automation...

3 Best Practices to Create a Product-Centric Competitive Advantage with PRO.FILE PLM

Jan. 25, 2024
Gain insight on best practices and strategies you need to accelerate engineering change management and reduce time to market. Register now for your opportunity to accelerate your...

Transformative Capabilities for XaaS Models in Manufacturing

Feb. 14, 2024
The manufacturing sector is undergoing a pivotal shift toward "servitization," or enhancing product offerings with services and embracing a subscription model. This transition...

Shifting Your Business from Products to Service-Based Business Models: Generating Predictable Revenues

Oct. 27, 2023
Executive summary on a recent IndustryWeek-hosted webinar sponsored by SAP

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!