Google Self Driving Artificial Intelligence Cars: Google Robot Car

Google Driverless Car

These Artificial Intelligent Robot cars are nearing completion.

Google has been creating and testing these cars that can drive on their own on the streets in the USA.

It seems life is imitating fiction again as This invention reminds me of Kitt from the 1980's television series Knight Rider. They both have Artificial Intelligence

So far the cars have been out on the highways of California and have been tested over 140,000 miles.

Because of the Law there has always been a human person in the car but the Google Robot car got on with the job and drove on the streets and highway of California by its self.

The car and its artificial intelligence had more than a little help from Google Technology of course.

They are operated by Google technology and linked to GPS satellite navigation technology.

Artificial intelligence experiments by Google

The route was programmed into the GPS navigation system. The car is able to drive without human assistance because it is fitted with video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder. Google already used normal cars to map out the predetermined journey so that the car would be able to get from A to B.

Google already used normal cars to map out the area of the predetermined journeys around the city of California. Every road, traffic lights, sidewalk etc was noted and entered on to the GPS navigation system. The system also has a data base of speed limits that the robot car always adheres to.

With this artificial intelligence software installed the robot car is able to sense anything that human beings can and therefore make safe and predictable decisions while driving along the roads.

Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Google Software Engineer

Google engineer Sebastian Thrun is in charge of creating and testing this new technology that will again see Google change the lives of millions of people all over the world. Sebastian Thrun is quoted as saying, “Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use.”

Cautious Personality

If the car is programmed with the cautious personality then the car will drive in a way that a normal cautious human being would drive it. The robot car would take more time and stop sooner at approaching lights if they are changing to red. It would also be more likely to allow another driver to pass them on the highway.

Aggressive Personality

If the car is programmed with the aggressive personality then the car will drive in a way that a more confident human being would drive it. The robot car would be more aggressive because of the confidence in its ability to drive through traffic safely and the traffics lights on time.

Technology Entertainment Design Conference

Google attended the Technology Entertainment Design Conference and show cased the robot car to the media and to all those other leading technology entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world who were present. One of Google’s robot cars was seen travelling at speed and with great accuracy on a closed course in Long Beach California.

Television series Knight Rider 1982–1986: Starring David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight and KITT as the artificial intelligent Robot Car

The most famous fictional robot car is KITT from the 1980’s television series Knight Rider. KITT stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand. KITT was a modified 1982 Pontiac Trans Am car.

One of the features of KITT was that it could drive by itself therefore allowing Michael Knight played by David Hasselhoff to fight the bad guys.

Of course for anyone old enough to remember the TV series Knight Rider they will be aware that KITT could also perform many more functions which were more advanced that just self driving

The way Google has been a leading innovator in new products over the short years it has been in existence it would not surprise me if these other amazing features from the Knight car would some day also be possible.

The television series Star Trek 1966 – 1969

I remember watching the TV series Star Trek in the late sixties as a young child.  I was fascinated by the communication devices that the crew of the Starship Enterprise used. And when the doors opened by themselves on the Enterprise I always thought it would be cool to have them.  

Of course now fifty years later we are all using our cell phones and mobile phones as a necessity rather than a luxury.  The sliding doors are also common place in stores, train etc.  Even the computers they had on the Starship Enterprise were touch sensitive and we have that too. 

This Google artificial intelligence technology that allows the safe driving of these cars is still in the very early stages. It will be a few years yet before any of these cars can be mass produced.

But now that Google software engineers have created this new concept of the driverless car it will not be long before the lives of people all over the world are changed for ever.

Google,com is always creating new technolgy that will chance the lives of people in the world for the better.

These Robot Cars will certainly do that!