Google’s autonomous car program hits 2 million miles
The Google selfdriving car program passed a milestone recently as it marked more than 2 million miles of driving on public roads. Google’s Alphabet Inc. division started working on autonomous cars back in 2009 and now has over 60 self-driving cars on the road.
Currently, they’re clocking around 25,000 miles of autonomous test driving every week putting traditional automakers to shame. But it’s still unclear exactly what Google plans to do with all of the data it has collected over those 2 million miles.
They haven’t said whether they plan to have only their own car, or if they plan to use this research to partner with traditional automakers or even new players to get autonomous cars to the public. What they have said is that they believe fully autonomous cars with no need for a driver, steering wheel, or pedals, will be ready by 2020.
Traditional automakers are taking a different AUTO BITS approach. Rather than holding back until they’re ready to release a fully autonomous car, they’re introducing bits and pieces of autonomous technology as it’s available.
You see it in features like emergency braking, lanekeeping assist, and adaptive cruise control. These are all pieces that need to be mastered before a fully autonomous car stands a chance.
For now, Google is using its cars as giant data collectors. There are a vast number of variables to consider even when driving the same route. They’re trying to understand those variables whether it’s the difference between a person, a dog, and a bicycle or more complex social cues.
It’s those social interactions that are the toughest to master. Think about the kind driver who waves to let you into heavy traffic. There’s no law that covers doing this, but it’s something everyone understands.
It might come with a blink of the headlights, a wave out the window, or just a nod from the driver to let you know he’ll wait and let you go. How does a car understand those kinds of cues?
This makes the number of miles less important than the type of miles. City traffic poses far more opportunity for social interaction where highway miles are more uniform and less complex.
Google will continue to rack up those miles, collecting data as it learns from every interaction. The faster it learns and the more data it collects, the sooner fully autonomous cars will find their place in the automotive landscape. Nicole Wakelin/
BestRide.com DID YOU KNOW? Toyota announced that its Toyota and Lexus models would start to include forward collision protection with auto-braking on every trim of all of its top-selling models starting in the 2017 model year. Recently, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety completed a long-term test showing that cars equipped with FCP crashed 40 percent less.
Toyota is not making the system standard right away on every one of its 2017 models, and a few vehicles will be excluded entirely, such as the 2017 Lexus GX, Toyota 4Runner and Toyota 86. However, the carmaker is still way ahead of the competition as most automakers will not be rolling out the new technology until 2022. AUTO NEWS
Uber’s test run of selfdriving cars in Pittsburgh has run into a few problems, most notably one of the vehicles going the wrong way on a one-way street. Luckily, the self-driving cars include a human safety driver behind the wheel to correct any mistakes.
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