Company co-founder Sergey Brin revealed his plans at Recode's Code Conference in southern California. He told Recode editors Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher (who has ridden in the car), that there's a safety benefit in a custom-built self-driving car. Because the car doesn't have a steering wheel, accelerator or brakes, it has more sensors in strategic spots than is possible in a regular vehicle. It is also equipped with a big "stop" button. In addition to all this tech, Google's autonomous car includes internal power steering and power brakes.
"It was inspiring to start with a blank sheet of paper and ask, 'What should be different about this kind of vehicle?'" Chris Urmson, director of the Self-Driving Car Project, wrote in a blog post about the new car.
Swisher said riding in the all-electric car was like going on a Disney ride. Considering it currently has a maximum speed of roughly 25 mph, this makes sense. Brin described riding in the car, which in one test was programmed via smartphone, as "relaxing," and similar to catching a chairlift. He added that the car will eventually go up to 100 mph once it's proven to be able to travel safely at that speed.
As for when the cars which are significantly smaller than traditional cars and include couch-like seating might actually make it to real highways, Brin said Google will soon test them with drivers. "Within a couple of years, we'll if we’ve passed the safety metrics we've put in place, which is to be significantly safer than a human driver ... have them on the road," he said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment