Google's Driverless Car: The Next Alternative Vehicle?

Just the Facts:

• Google reveals its "driverless car" technology.
• Google says it has put more than 140,000 road miles on its test cars, including six Toyota Prius hybrids and an Audi TT.
• Technology consists of a combination of video cameras, radar and laser technology and GPS.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — Now this is what we call a Google Street View. The innovative technology company's latest project, revealed over the weekend, is a fully automated car that does not require a human driver. Google says it has put more than 140,000 road miles on its test cars, six Toyota Prius hybrids and an Audi TT, in California and beyond, using its combination of video cameras, radar and laser technology and GPS.

The modified cars' most noticeable feature is a rotating sensor on the roof that scans 360 degrees for more than 200 feet in diameter, creating a 3D map of the car's location. A sensor on the left rear wheel measures the car's movements in detail and helps locate it on the map. A video camera on the windshield near the rearview mirror finds pedestrians, bicyclists, traffic lights and obstacles in the rod and sends that data to the car's onboard computer. Radar sensors at front and back help locate more distant objects. A GPS receiver, a laser range finder and an inertial motion sensor complete the package.

What's the Google angle? Not surprisingly, the cars relate back to Google data centers to process the information the cars gather and need to use. Google says its goal, though, is "to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use."

The company claims the driverless cars have tackled such challenging terrain as San Francisco's winding Lombard Street and Golden Gate Bridge, the Pacific Coast Highway and around Lake Tahoe. Google also says it has a "trained safety driver" behind the wheel at all times and a "trained software operator" in the passenger seat — and that the local police have been "briefed...on our work."

Videos of the driverless Google cars have begun to proliferate on the Internet:

A New York Times reporter observed one of the Google fleet in operation, saying robotics scientist Christopher Urmson was behind the wheel and, during their time in the car, twice took control of the vehicle when a bicyclist and then a parking car appeared in their path. To take over the reins, the driver can "hit a red button near his right hand, touch the brake or turn the steering wheel," the Times reported.

Inside Line says: Could be a boon for safety — but in the words of BBC News, "Could a planet with 350 million Top Gear viewers ever willingly surrender the joy of pushing down on the accelerator, the thrill of the open road?" — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent