Google has unveiled the design of its first prototype self driving car.
We’re now exploring what fully self-driving vehicles would look like by building some prototypes; they’ll be designed to operate safely and autonomously without requiring human intervention. 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. The vehicles will be very basic—we want to learn from them and adapt them as quickly as possible—but they will take you where you want to go at the push of a button. And that’s an important step toward improving road safety and transforming mobility for millions of people.
The vehicles have sensors that remove blind spots. They can detect objects to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions.
The speed of these first vehicles is currently capped at 25mph. At the moment, the interior is designed for learning, not luxury. There are two seats with seatbelts, space for a passenger’s belongings, buttons to start and stop, and a screen that shows the route.
Google says it will build a hundred prototype vehicles and later this summer safety drivers will start testing versions with manual controls. If things go well, the company will run a small pilot program in California in the next couple years.
Take a look at the vehicle in the video and photos below. What do you think? Let us know in the comments
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