Autoblog

Why Google's autonomous car tech could be worth more than its web business

Zach Bowman — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:01:00 EST

According to Forbes, Google may be into driverless cars for more than the party tricks. As part of a three-part series on the tech giant's foray into the automotive sphere, writer Chunka Miu says Google's efforts could have a widespread impact on the nature of transportation worldwide. The company believes it can theoretically reduce traffic accidents, energy consumption and the number of personal vehicles on the road by 90 percent should autonomous models take hold, and those savings could equate to a massive revenue stream as automakers work to adapt the technology to their products.

What's more, the technology could revolutionize the way developing countries design their infrastructure, and Google could theoretically be there to lend a helping hand. Forbes says the autonomous vehicle business could be worth trillions of dollars in the long term, far surpassing the company's current search, advertising and mobile platform operations.

Why Google's autonomous car tech could be worth more than its web business originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: ABC News gets taken for a spin in Google's self-driving Toyota Prius

Jeff Glucker — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:28:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Technology, Videos, Toyota

ABC News goes for a spin with one of Google's driverless cars - Click above to watch video after the jump

Google's autonomous fleet has been clandestinely racking up the computer-driven miles, and so far, their autonomous autos have been fault-free. One minor incident happened when a car was rear-ended, but the ~~Skynet~~ Google cars have yet to incur any points on their virtual licenses. Earlier this week, ABC News got the chance to go for a spin in one of the tech company's automated cars, riding shotgun in a computer-controlled Toyota Prius.

The engineers from Google explain that the Prius utilizes a series of cameras and a roof-mounted, spinning laser to see what is going on around it. The result is a vehicle which might just be safer than one with a human behind the wheel. However, according to the report, the goal of the system is not to completely remove the driver from the equation, the system is pitched as more of a "super cruise-control" than a full auto-drive system. The theory is that it would be useful for traffic-filled commutes to and from work, and it might be a nice solution to eliminate or reduce distracted-driving. Get a phone call? Hit the Google button and let the car have the wheel while you take your call.

Becky Worley, the news correspondent in the video clip, even gets up the guts to give the Google car a real-life brake test. She steps in front of it as it's motoring down the road. What happens? The car "sees" her and slams on the binders. Check it all out in the video after the jump.

[Source: ABC News]

Continue reading Video: ABC News gets taken for a spin in Google's self-driving Toyota Prius

Video: ABC News gets taken for a spin in Google's self-driving Toyota Prius originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stuck in traffic? You're no ant, my friend

Chris Tutor — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:33:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Technology

Have you ever sat for a couple of hours and just watched ants work? Unless you have a government grant or just no life at all, probably not. They're actually quite fascinating according to The Discovery Channel. They (the ants, not TDC) can carry 10-50 times their own weight, get more done before dawn than you do in a month, can fill out 1040-EZ forms without the worksheets and never, ever get caught in traffic jams.

That last ant fact is from the research of one of those grant-funded ant watchers who spent the last 8 years watching the tiny insects' behavior. Audrey Dussutour of the University of Sydney, observed that even on a path as slim as a tree branch, leafcutter ants optimized their going and coming traffic with no entomological pileups.

And how is this supposed to help you during gridlock Monday morning? For starters, slow down. Apparently, not being in such a hurry to get somewhere could actually speed up the flow of human traffic. Dussutour observed that when faster-moving ants not carrying a load got behind slower, load-bearing ants, they chose patience instead of passing the pokey ant, which actually allowed the overall colony to move faster.

Which leads to the part that interests us most. Researchers are using algorythms developed from the ant behaviors to develop a multi-car navigation system that could one day lead to those driverless cars we've been hearing about for 50 years. Let's just hope that whatever they come up with, our robocars come equipped with anti-magnifying glass beam protection, otherwise we're all fried.

[Source: Wired Science | Photo: Audrey Dussutour]

Stuck in traffic? You're no ant, my friend originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES 2008: Wagoner expected to announce driverless cars within a decade

John Neff — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:57:00 EST

Filed under: CES, Technology, GM

General Motors' CEO Rick Wagoner won't be making his keynote address at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show until Tuesday, but word is that a big talking point in his speech will be driverless cars. According to CNN Money/Autos, Wagoner is expected to reveal that GM will be testing driverless cars by 2015 and have cars on the road by 2018. What is meant by "on the road" remains to be seen, as buying a real production Tahoe with this technology within ten years seems like a stretch. Still, the success of the DARPA Grand Challenge these past three years in which driverless vehicles pilot themselves through a miles-long course shows that we do have the technology to take our hands off the wheel. GM played its own part in sponsoring the Carnegie Mellon team that has done well in each competition, including the most recent one in which the university's driverless Tahoe called the "Boss" won the whole thing. We've confirmed that CMU's Boss will be on stage with Wagoner as he gives his speech on Tuesday. Thanks to its association with Carnegie Mellon and the DARPA Grand Challenge competitions, GM is definitely on the forefront of developing driverless tech, but promising hands-free driving in ten years is a bold move. We'll just have to wait and see what the Ricker says when he takes the stage on Tuesday.

[Source: CNN Money/Autos]

CES 2008: Wagoner expected to announce driverless cars within a decade originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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