Google drones rode into the streets of Mountain View

Google cars appeared on the streets of Mountain View yesterday. The company has embarked on a new phase of prototype testing.

Until that time, unusual-looking cars were being run in at a military air force range 200 kilometers southeast of San Francisco.

As previously reported , at the request of the authorities, the prototype was equipped with pedals, a steering wheel (removable) and rear-view mirrors. In the original project, the car had only a “Drive” button.

Google has been testing unmanned vehicles on public roads for a long time, but so far these have been third-party cars (Lexus and Toyota). Now, for the first time, a real car of the future rode out onto the streets of California .



"When we started to design the world's first fully unmanned vehicle, the goal was to save people from completely control the machine burden, - told in a corporate blog. - The car should just deliver a person from point A to point B at the touch of a button. And this could change the lives of millions of people, since 94% of transport accidents are caused by human errors, return billions of hours of people wasted in traffic jams, and also give new opportunities to those who cannot move, because they do not have the physical capabilities to control the car ” .

At first, it is planned to test 25 cars in the vicinity of the headquarters, then another 50-100 units will be built, and the testing radius will be expanded to hilly and rainy terrain.

For each prototype, a maximum speed limit of 25 mph (40 km / h) is set so as not to interfere with the surrounding drivers and not to scare them. The cars use the same software as the standard Lexus RX450h “drones” that Google has tested so far.

By the way, this week Lexus RX450h is seen in ugly behavior. While in unmanned mode, he aggressively cut off an unmanned vehicle of another Delphi Automotive Plc company , which was tested on the same road. According to representatives of Delphi Automotive Plc, their drone "took the necessary action" and the accident was avoided.