The future is upon us

Google have been working on an automated car for the last couple of years and now have an almost perfect system.

This uses gps, laser, cameras and other array of sensors to automatically drive the car safely being away of traffic signs and signals, other cars and pedestrians.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdgQpa1pUUE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Yay, I will be able to use my mobile and text while driving Sod the mile high club, we can black out all the windows and do it on the motorway...........beds in cars is a cool idea

 

End of the day, you remove human error and the roads will be a safer and less congested place

 

Do we have to have the guy with the laptop in the passenger seat? Not sure my wife would appreciate sitting in the back.

 

I would hope not or your car sexploits may end up on the interweb lol

 

Rarely.

It is the future, I'm telling you........

 

How does it no you want something to eat and what if you needed an urgent pee??

 

Be awesome in the summer, imagine being able to look at all the ladies in mini skirts without risking a rear ender ;-)

 

That's amazing. Continental from Germany is working on this with VW in Auburn Hills, Michigan. One car already drove from Auburn Hills ( a suburb of Detroit, as well as my hometown, until recently) to Las Vegas and back. The engineers in the car say it was in control 90% of the way as they did tweaking and adjusting here & there.
They expect semi-autonomous cars to hit the shelves by 2015. (Semi-autonomous means they can park, take over in stop & go traffic as well as long sleepy stretches of empty highway, and they can predict imminent collisions and seize control to maneuver faster than a human can.)
Fully autonomous cars are expected out by 2020. They will have green license plates and people texting in every seat.
No, actually one is supposed to be paying attention and be ready to take control at any given moment. The car actually watches the person in the driver's seat. If he/she isn't paying attention the car threatens to quit driving. How funny is that?
So yeah. Just 8 more years and our cars can drive us home from the pubs.
Cool thread. I had no idea we were that close.

 

As baywatcher has said, many compaonies have been working on this technology for a while now, it will happen in our generation.

OK you have bikes and horses etc but we are not talking about them, also the governments are trying to get rid of all the old cars on the road anyway so it wont be long before everything is retro fitted with an affordable self drive system with a hydrogen/battery cell combo