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Posted Jan 15, 2015, 5:36 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 1,430
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This is an unexpectedly bold move for Google:
Google: No U.S. OK needed for self-driving test cars
David Shepardson, The Detroit News 7:09 p.m. EST January 14, 2015
Quote:
Google Inc. said Wednesday it doesn’t need approval from the U.S. auto safety agency to test fully autonomous self-driving cars, even as the search-engine giant acknowledged that autonomous cars won’t be foolproof.
Chris Urmson, director of Google’s self-driving car project, said the company plans to test a fleet of prototype fully autonomous vehicles without a steering wheel later this year, but that the company has no plans to compete with automakers.
The company has logged more than 700,000 miles of self-driving in retrofitted Lexus vehicles, but humans handle the driving in certain weather and at critical points, like getting onto highways.
“We’re definitely not in the business of making cars — just to be 100 percent clear,” Urmson said at the Automotive News World Congress. “We’re very excited to push the technology forward.”
He said the effort wasn’t aimed at getting vehicle occupants to look at more ads instead of driving.
Urmson said he believes it is legal in some states for Google to test autonomous cars that don’t have a steering wheel or brakes on U.S. roads. “We don’t actually think there is a regulatory block.
He said he doesn’t think Google needs the approval of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to proceed, though the company has been in regular talks with NHTSA. “They are not a permission-granting organization,” Urmson said. “NHTSA could certainly reactively ban it, but we don’t think that they need to grant permission.”
NHTSA said the Google vehicles must meet U.S. requirements — though if the Google test cars are “low-speed” vehicles they would face less restrictive U.S. requirements. Urmson said the test fleet will travel “at lower speeds to reduce the risk when something should go wrong.”
“Just like any car built for use on U.S. roads, any autonomous vehicle would need to meet applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, which falls under NHTSA’s jurisdiction. The agency will have the appropriate policies and regulations in place to ensure the safety of these types of vehicles, said NHTSA spokesman Gordon Trowbridge.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said before self-driving cars could be offered for sale they would need to be at least 10 times safer than human drivers. Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche has said they should be at least safer. Urmson said Google is working on similar metrics. “I don’t know what the number is,” Urmson said.
Asked if Americans will accept self-driving cars that make some mistakes, Urmson said it was a difficult question. “I think there will be failures of these vehicles,” Urmson said. “We accept today 33,000 people killed on the roads, but obviously there is challenging perception around risk.”
The auto safety agency is laying the groundwork for nationwide regulations if autonomous vehicles become commercially available. A number of states have sought input from the agency, which doesn’t want states setting their own safety requirements.
Driverless cars use video cameras, radar sensors, laser rangefinders and detailed maps to monitor road and driving conditions. Automated systems make corrections to keep the car in the lane, brake and accelerate to avoid accidents, and navigate.
Google said it has been working with a number of auto suppliers on its fleet of about 100 test self-driving cars. Google said it worked with Roush, RCO, ZF Lenksysteme, Continental, Bosch, Frimo, LG Electronics, Prefix and others to build fully autonomous vehicle prototypes — with Roush assembling them in its Metro Detroit offices. The company has also been in talks with numerous automakers about potentially building a future autonomous vehicle.
Google has had 700,000 miles of driverless testing in retrofitted Lexus vehicles and now plans to start testing later this year in new autonomous vehicles that don’t have a steering wheel or brake pedal.
M City taking shape
A Michigan testing site for connected and driverless cars that will simulate a cityscape is expected to be operational this spring.
Called “M City,” the 32-acre site is taking shape on the University of Michigan’s North Campus in Ann Arbor. Designed and built in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Transportation, roadway construction at the facility was completed in December. A formal opening is planned for July.
The site will include a network of roads with up to five lanes, intersections, roundabouts, roadway markings, traffic signs, signals and sidewalks. Also planned are bus facilities, benches, simulated buildings, streetlights, parked cars and obstacles.
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Also, this:
Google Expects Public in Driverless Cars in 2 to 5 Years
AP
Quote:
The head of self-driving cars for Google expects real people to be using them on public roads in two to five years.
Chris Urmson says the cars would still be test vehicles, and Google would collect data on how they interact with other vehicles and pedestrians.
Google is working on sensors to detect road signs and other vehicles, and software that analyzes all the data. The small, bulbous cars without steering wheels or pedals are being tested at a Google facility in California.
Urmson wouldn't give a date for putting driverless cars on roads en masse, saying that the system has to be safe enough to work properly.
He told reporters Wednesday at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit that Google doesn't know yet how it will make money on the cars.
Urmson wants to reach the point where his test team no longer has to pilot the cars. "What we really need is to get to the point where we're learning about how people interact with it, how they are using it, and how can we best bring that to market as a product that people care for," he said.
Google Inc., which is based in Mountain View, California, may face state regulatory hurdles depending on where it chooses to test the cars in public. Under legislation that Google persuaded California lawmakers to pass in 2012, self-driving cars must have a steering wheel and pedals. Several other states have passed laws formally allowing autonomous cars on public roads without that restriction.
The company in December announced that it had a fully functioning prototype that's been driving on its test track. It hoped to see the cars on the road in northern California this year, but they would have to have safety drivers and temporary manual controls.
Google also confirmed that it has hired Roush Enterprises Inc., a Detroit-area company that designs and builds prototypes for the auto industry, to build 150 prototype Google autonomous cars.
Urmson said Google is making laser and other sensors for the cars smaller and less costly.
He predicted that the cars would fail at some point on public roads, but said Google's cars have been driven more than 700,000 miles on public roads without causing a crash.
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