Google’s Self-Driving Car Debuts With No Steering Wheel And No Brake Or Accelerator Peddles
Perhaps some day in the far off future, we'll all own self-driving cars that get us from Point A to Point B with no fuss. We're nowhere near that point yet, but we are at the beginning stages. Google is especially pushing the concept and more recently began exploring what fully self-driving vehicles would look like by building some prototypes.
What they've come up with is a small, half bubble-shaped car with no steering wheel, no accelerator pedal, and no brake pedal. Why would Google leave such essentials out of the equation? Simply put, "they don't need them," Google explains.
"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," Google says.
Google's essentially experimenting with something that's a long way off from becoming a reality. You might recall that California recently approved limited testing of self-driving cars, but there are all kinds of requirements, such as having access to a steering wheel and other controls.
Google is planning to build about 100 prototype vehicles, early versions of which will have the manual controls California requires.
What they've come up with is a small, half bubble-shaped car with no steering wheel, no accelerator pedal, and no brake pedal. Why would Google leave such essentials out of the equation? Simply put, "they don't need them," Google explains.
"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," Google says.
Google's essentially experimenting with something that's a long way off from becoming a reality. You might recall that California recently approved limited testing of self-driving cars, but there are all kinds of requirements, such as having access to a steering wheel and other controls.
Google is planning to build about 100 prototype vehicles, early versions of which will have the manual controls California requires.
