Okay. here is presented additional useful info, as the story is reported
on the Web site of the main irish radio & television broadcaster, RTé.
Visit www.rte.ie/news
Google reveals self-driving robot car
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Google has revealed it is testing robot cars that drive completely on
their own, having already cruised almost 250,000km around California.
News of the experiment emerged from Google at the weekend, revealing
what has been described as an attempt to use artificial intelligence to
revolutionise the car. But the software, linked to GPS satellite
navigation technology, was nearly fooled by a humble cyclist who jumped
a red light. A Google engineer had to slam on the button to disconnect
the system, and an accident was averted. This was one of only two
interventions by the human driver in tests. Writing on a company blog,
Google engineer Sebastian Thrun said: 'One of the big problems we're
working on today is car safety and efficiency. 'Our goal is to help
prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon
emissions by fundamentally changing car use. 'So we have developed
technology for cars that can drive themselves. Our automated cars,
manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to
our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard. 'They've driven
down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the
Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe.
'All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles
(225,302km). We think this is a first in robotics research.' The
engineer explained that in the experimental enterprise 'automated cars
use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to 'see' other
traffic, as well as detailed maps (which we collect using manually
driven vehicles) to navigate the road ahead'. But the vehicles are not
unmanned for safety reasons; safety drivers are behind the wheel in case
they are needed, Mr Thrun's posting said. According to The New York
Times, the Google research programme is using artificial intelligence to
revolutionise the automobile, making a step beyond its work on internet
search en
gines. During a half-hour drive beginning on Google's campus south of
San Francisco last week, a Toyota Prius equipped with a variety of
sensors and following a route programmed into the GPS navigation system
accelerated in the entrance lane and merged into fast-moving traffic on
Highway 101, a freeway that goes through Silicon Valley, the report
said. It left the freeway several exits later. The car drove at the
speed limit, which it knew because the limit for every road is included
in its database, the paper said. The device on top of the car produced
a detailed map of the environment. The car then drove in city traffic,
stopping for lights and stop signs, as well as making announcements like
'approaching a crosswalk' or 'turn ahead' in a pleasant female voice.
The car can be programmed for different driving personalities - from
cautious mode, in which it is more likely to yield to another car, to
aggressive, in which it is more likely to go first, according to
the report. Christopher Urmson, a Carnegie Mellon University
robotics scientist, was behind the wheel but not using it. To regain
control of the car he has to do one of three things: hit a red button
near his right hand, touch the brake or turn the steering wheel, the
paper said. He did so twice - once when a cyclist ran a red light and
again when a car in front stopped and began to back into a parking
space. The car was the brainchild of Mr Thrun, director of the
Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and a Google engineer, who
led a team in designing the Stanley robot car, winning a $2m Pentagon
prize. But autonomous vehicles poses thorny legal issues, The Times
said. Under current law, a human must be in control of a car at all
times. 'The technology is ahead of the law in many areas,' Bernard Lu,
senior staff counsel for the California Department of Motor Vehicles,
told the paper. 'If you look at the vehicle code, there are dozens of
laws pertaining
to the driver of a vehicle, and they all presume to have a human being
operating the vehicle.' But Mr Thrun believes the automated car can
save lives by reducing the number of accidents caused by human error.
'According to the World Health Organisation, more than 1.2m lives are
lost every year in road traffic accidents,' he wrote. ''We believe our
technology has the potential to cut that number, perhaps by as much as
half.'
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Pietruk" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 12:39 PM
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Fwd: Fw: [acb-l] Google tests cars that can steer
without drivers
> Kevin
>
> That indeed is the key phrase. And it is not likely that insurance
> companies will be comfortable with this either meaning owners or
> operators
> of such cars will not be able to procure coverage unless the back-up
> driver is an actual legally licensed driver.
>
> It is a fascinating demonstration, that is for sure. And it may have
> application for long-range automated driving such as on an interstate
> where someone intends to go for hundreds of miles. ut I am guessing
> that,
> while the car may be able to drive itself (so to speak), there will be
> a
> requirement that a legally qualified driver also be sitting behind the
> steering wheel at all times while the autopilot is turned on.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> The real measure of our wealth is how much we should be worth if we
> lost our money.
> John Henry Jowett - (1864-1923), English Congregational pastor
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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