Google test cars that can steer without drivers

A surprising article came out on October 10, 2010 about the Google test driving cars that can be steered without humans. These cars are so advanced that it can travel a total of 140, 000 miles all on their own without a human driver steering the wheel. The goal of producing self-driving cars is "help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions," says project leader Sebastian Thrun. Apparently, the cars are programmed to know speed limits, traffic patterns, and road maps. They use video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to detect other cars. That is definitely very high tech compared to humans who don't have built in video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to detect other cars.

There are two main points in the article. The first is how there are working self-driving cars that are already on testing mode by Google Inc. The company is so overflowing with cash, that it is able to focus on projects outside of its browser expansion. If there are self-driving cars that can function all on its own based on highly advanced technology, then supposedly, consumers will have more time to browse the web, as Google is a browser of the Internet. According to engineers, they consider the self-driving cars to be safer than when humans drive the cars manually themselves. Humans are prone to distraction, whereas technology is not. Car accidents are one of the leading death causes to humans and the production of self-driving cars could potentially eliminate or lessen this problem. Already, humans rely heavily on technology, so allowing cars to drive us is much like how we rely on technology anyway.

This leads up to the second point mentioned in the article. By having cars that can drive itself, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group in San Jose, California, "driverless vehicle will make computers more like robots imagined in the 1920s, rather than tabletop data processor we use today." The possibility of robots assisting humans have always been around. Now it seems like the science fiction seen in movies is becoming a reality. How long will it be before self-driving cars hit the market and replace manual cars? Technology has definitely come a long way, since people's imagination are becoming a reality. Self-driving car? Wow.

References

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39606282/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/