Google self-driving car coming around the corner

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img src="http://images.thenews.com.pk/updates_pics/Google-self-driving-car_5-14-2014_147644_l.jpg" /></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The car eased into a turn lane, waited for a green light and a break in traffic, then continued on its way in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It even avoided stopping on train tracks.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But there was nobody holding the wheel. What looked like the work of a conscientious driver was a Google car making all the moves -- with an AFP reporter in the back seat.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Google used machine learning to teach cars how people drive and, from there, to anticipate what motorists in surrounding traffic are likely to do.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Computers have really good reaction times. They don't get distracted, drowsy, fall asleep, and they don't drive drunk," Google self-driving car software team lead Dmitri Dolgov told reporters getting an intimate look at prototypes at the Computer History Museum.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"They don't need to stop messing with the radio to see what is happening, or even take time to move a foot from the gas pedal to the brake."</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bustling street crowd paid little heed to the self-driving car, which sported a whirling gadget on top about the size and shape of a large coffee can.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The roof-top device used radar and lasers to track everything around it.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A camera peeking out from the Lexus front grill watched what was ahead.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Data is processed by onboard computers programmed to simulate what a careful driver would do, but at super-human speeds. And, naturally, the Google autonomous car was connected to the Internet.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A "Googler" from the technology titan's test driving team had a laptop computer that showed what the car "saw" -- everything from cyclists and traffic signals to orange cones and painted lines in the street.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another Googler was in the driver's seat, ready to take over in the unlikely chance a human was needed to make a driving decision.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A red button could be hit to grab control from the computer. A tap of the brake would do the same.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a </span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"If you are in a car commercial, that is driving we enjoy," said project director Chris Urmson.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"If you are commuting to work, that is not fun."</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <br />

Google self-driving car coming around the corner

The car eased into a turn lane, waited for a green light and a break in traffic, then continued on its way in the Silicon Valley city of ...

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