Here Are Some Of The Problems Google Is Having With Its Self-Driving Cars

via businessinsider.com

It's hard to tell which Google project the world is more excited about--Google Glass(es) or Google's self-driving cars--but this frequent car-driver, anyway, can't wait for the latter.

(The Glasses sound cool, too, don't get me wrong.)

Google is making great progress with these cars: The cars have now been driven more than 300,000 miles, and there have been no accidents with a car under the computer's control. (There was a widely publicized fender-bender in 2011, when one of the Google cars crunched into the car ahead of it, but the human driver was driving.)

One of the insights that people often quickly have when they ride in these cars, according to people who have ridden in them, is that it's obvious the computer can be a vastly better driver than a human ever could be. With lasers and radar for eyes, the computer can monitor an extraordinary number of inputs and react much more quickly to surprises than a human ever could.

I have always assumed that there would be much excitement around the self-driving cars right up until the time that one killed someone. At that point, I assumed, the years of litigation and liability arguments would make the technology so expensive as to be impractical for normal use....

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Driverless Cars Will Make Intersections So Efficient It's Scary

via businessinsider.com

Driverless cars may be coming sooner than expected.

With companies like Google and Audi already working on ways to make our vehicles more autonomous and safe, we're left wondering what the future will look like once every car has that ability.

Today we found a simulation via The Atlantic Cities that answers how a four-way intersection could work in an era of driverless cars.

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Google: Self-driving cars in 3-5 years. Feds: Not so fast

via extremetech.com

The self-driving car could be available to consumers in 3-5 years, the head of Google’s autonomous driving project says. That’s the most optimistic timeframe yet. Other projections have been for 2020 and beyond, which still beats “probably not in our lifetime.” The timeline came from Anthony Levandowski, Google’s product manager for autonomous driving, speaking at a Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) conference in Washington last week. “I can’t tell you you’ll be able to have a Google car in your garage next year,” Levandowski said. But he added, “We expect to release the technology in the next five years. In what form it gets released is still to be determined.” Releasing technology is different than announcing a self-driving car going on sale in 3-5 years. The real challenge could be getting the self-driving car approved for use of public highways everywhere, not just the handful of states that allow self-driving cars for test purposes.

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Self-driving cars rule the future

via techi.com

The cars of today are costly in more ways than one. In 2010, there were 35,000 deaths due to car crashes in the U.S., and car crashes cost the economy $230 billion every year. Traffic congestion costs the U.S. economy a staggering $87.2 billion a year. As a nation, we waste 4.2 billion hours in traffic each year—that’s one work week for every traveler. The environment takes a beating from the cars of today as well. Twenty-two percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from cars and trucks, and 2.8 billion gallons of fuel are wasted each year due to congestion.

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Here's How Audi And Lexus Imagine The Future Of Self-Driving Cars

via businessinsider.com

Audi and Lexus are well into development of self-driving car technology.

While you would think that the end result would be similar, the two companies are taking completely different positions on how they want drivers to experience assisted driving.

Lexus' primary goal with its self-driving cars is safety. Currently, the company's LS model is the world leader in car safety with its pre-crash system. Lexus sees its self-driving technology as a way to prevent human error.

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Toyota, Audi Prep Self-Driving Cars

via online.wsj.com

Toyota and Audi are throwing their hats into the ring of potential suppliers of self-driving vehicles.

Both auto makers confirmed on Thursday that they will be demonstrating autonomous-driving features at the Consumer Electronics Show in the coming week, signaling a new effort to raise the technology's profile among consumers.

Toyota previews the Lexus AASRV, a computer-controlled car, ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. (Photo/Video: Lexus)

In a preview video posted to its website on Thursday, Toyota showed a five-second clip of one of its Lexus brand cars outfitted with various sensors and the caption, "Lexus advanced active safety research vehicle is leading the industry into a new automated era."

An Audi official also said the luxury-car company will be demonstrating autonomous vehicle capabilities at the Las Vegas show, including a feature that allows a car to find a parking space and park itself without a driver behind the wheel.

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Holy Crap, Self-Driving Cars Are Now Legal in California

via gizmodo.com

Just moments ago, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into effect SB1298, effectively paving the way for driverless cars in California. For a state that relies more heavily on cars than any other, this is hugely significant when it comes to traffic and road congestion.

"Today we're looking at science-fiction becoming tomorrow's reality," said the governor. And tomorrow isn't that far off. According to Google's Sergey Brin, "You can count on one hand the number of years until ordinary people can experience this." More and more Google employees will be beta-testing it starting this year, and when you hear the potential advantages, you'll start to wish you worked there.

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Google's Self-Driving Cars Now Legal in California

via allthingsd.com

California governor Jerry Brown stopped by Google Tuesday to sign a bill that explicitly legalizes self-driving cars like those company co-founder Sergey Brin is so hot on.

The bill — SB 1298, sponsored by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-L.A.) — essentially establishes safety guidelines and performance standards for autonomous vehicles operating on California’s roads and highways, the first step in their public deployment. Self-driving cars can now be tested on public roadways — as long as a licensed human driver is seated at the wheel and able to take over in the event of a malfunction.

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