Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Google self-driving automobile essay
Google self-driving automobile essay
Essay on google self driving cars
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Google Self-Driving Automobile
In 2010, Google broadcasted that they created an archetype of a car that can drive itself; its purpose, to avert collisions, allow citizens more time, and cut down on harmful pollutants that vehicles produce (Poczter & Jankovic, 2014). The heart of the self-driving automobile is lasers that are mounted on the roof of a modified Toyota Prius that produces a precise three-dimensional atlas of the area surrounding the car. Furthermore, the automobile is outfitted with four radars, and another laser around the vehicle that allows it to precisely create a 3-D map of its surroundings (Poczter & Jankovic, 2014). The vehicle calculates the laser dimensions with high-resolution maps of the globe, which allows it to drive itself without human intervention, while evading obstacles and obeying traffic laws (How Google’s self-Driving Car Works, 2011).
The goals behind self-driving cars are to decrease collisions, traffic jams and the use of gas and harmful pollutants. The autonomous automobile is able to maneuver around objects and create swift lines of cars on roadways (How Google’s self-Driving Car Works, 2011). The autonomous vehicle can react faster than humans can, meaning less accidents and the potential to save thousands of lives. Another purpose and vision for these cars is that vehicles would become a shared resource. When someone needed a car, he or she could just use his or her Smartphone and a self-sufficient car would drive up and pick him or her up.
While many people are all about autonomous cars and the benefits that they will bring to society, there are people who oppose driver less cars. Google has faced major censure from critics that are uneasy with the method that the automobile will u...
... middle of paper ...
...rk because glucose levels can change so often. The Google contact lens project is testing smart contact lens that are produced to gauge glucose levels in tears using microscopic wireless chips and miniature glucose sensors which are implanted between two layers of contact lens material (Introducing our smart contact lens project, n.d.). They are currently experimenting with prototypes that will have the capability of producing a reading every second, and are even considering integrating LED lights to help warn the wearer that their glucose levels have increased or dropped within normal range (Introducing our smart contact lens project, n.d.). While Google is still in the beginning stages of this project, they are in discussions with the FDA and others partners in order to eventually bring this creation to reality (Introducing our smart contact lens project, n.d.).
The term autonomous refers to the capability of acting independently, or having the freedom to do so. A self-driving car is an autonomous car, which has the ability to sense its environment and navigating without any human operations. These types of cars are built to make safe and smart decisions on the road. In the past years, automobile companies have begun to introduce advanced driver assistance systems that are capable of parking, switching lanes, and braking in case of an emergency on their own, without the driver’s assistance. Automated vehicles are capable of maneuvering through street traffic, as well as other natural and man-made obstacles along the way. Therefore, this technology might completely change the methods of transportation.
Major incumbent companies expect that the autonomous driving systems will be ready for the market in five years. This may be optimistic, but by 2050, cars that drive themselves could well be major production units for companies like General Motors. GM first revealed in 2010 that it had been working on self-driving cars[1]. Last year, GM demonstrated that the prototypes can follow the pace of traffic, while allowing the driver to have his hands off the steering wheel.
Recently, the transport company Über released a small group of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This breakthrough in technology seems to be something a million years away, but there are people already experiencing the thrills of a self-driving car. However, this car was not achieved without years and years of the greatest minds in multiple fields congregating together and scrutinizing each and every model. The only way this was created was through an abundance of conflict and sleepless nights.
While there have been surveys to understand how people feel about self-driving vehicles, they only surveyed a little over a thousand, which isn’t comparable to the millions of people who actually drive cars (Degroat). Many, more than 70 percent, do believe that autonomic vehicles will reduce accidents, the severity of the crash, and help the fuel economy, nearly as many are concerned about the way the car will perform under unusual or unexpected circumstances, as compared to the way a human could react and perform, along with if the vehicle would have any system malfunctions (Degroat). Even though the car companies are working on the technology to make the cars safe and dependable, it would be easy for someone to “hack” into the vehicle to steal it, or take personal information from the vehicle like where they have been and where they plan to go (Degroat). Many also wonder how well the car will do under different climate and driving circumstances; will the car’s mechanics and equipment work well in a tropical or artic like environment, or how will it interact in New York City as opposed to a very rural and rugged environment like a farm. With the sensors and cameras attached to the car, will it be able to tell the difference and respond differently among other vehicles, pedestrians, and non-motored objects on the
People often dream of flying cars, underwater cars, and driverless cars. These days, the dream of driverless cars is becoming real. Unfortunately, dreams often overlook practical issues, and the issues of driverless cars are too great to be overlooked. An autonomous car is what it sounds like, a car without a driver. On the currently existing cars, there are all the normal features of a car, with a map of roads, and an an emergency steering wheel and pedals. What these cars do not have, however, is guaranteed safety. Although driverless cars would be an easy source of convenience and comfort, there are many concerns that need to be addressed.
The Google car: to some skeptics, this may sound like a cash grab for the multi-billion company, known for its fast information gathering search engine software and cloud computing. But to others who believe technology is the future, this may revolutionize the driving industry as we know it, forever changing the way we get from point A to point B.
Currently a driverless car is now considered legally the same as a human driver. But what does that mean? Google's software, not the human passenger, is considered as the "driver". A precedent of the federal court's decision perhaps stemmed from Toyota unintended acceleration that resulted in a class action lawsuit where existing product liability regulations were able to sort who or what is at fault.
In July 12, The New York Times reported a news: “Inside the self-driving Tesla fatal accident”, which again caused enormous debates on whether self-driving cars should be legal or not.
Companies like Google, Tesla and Nissan, among others, have announced over the past few years that their companies are trying to develop self-driving or autonomous cars [Ref. 1 and 2]. Self-driving cars can provide many benefits to the average consumer. Studies have shown that because computers can react and process information many times faster than a human being, crashes on streets and roads can be decreased with quick and consistent evasion maneuvers by the autonomous car. They can also help maximize fuel economy by calculating the most direct and fastest routes. When the driving of an autonomous car demonstrates that the computer can safely and reliably transport the passengers to their destination, this frees up the passengers to do other things that they would not normally be able to do if they were driving the car manually. For this reason, self-driving cars can help maximize productivity of their passengers.
Autonomous vehicles will be an element of the not-too-distant future. While legal, ethical, security and policy issues abound, automakers continue to develop autonomous technology. Many fear ceding control to new technology, but the positives are too great to pass up. Companies see the opportunity to make money and in the process save lives and make other’s lives better.
Self-driving cars are the wave of the future. There is much debate regarding the impact a self-driving car will have on our society and economy. Some experts believe fully autonomous vehicles will be on the road in the next 5-10 years (Anderson). This means a vehicle will be able to drive on the road without a driver or any passengers. Like any groundbreaking technology, there is a fear of the unforeseen problems. Therefore, there will need to be extensive testing before anyone can feel safe with a vehicle of this style on the road. It will also take time for this type of technology to become financially accessible to the masses, but again alike any technology with time it should be possible. Once the safety concern has been fully addressed
Google has successfully built a self-driving car, yet “Google insists on developing a car without a steering wheel partly because it contends that people often don’t pay attention while their cars are operating autonomously” (Vock 37). Even though autonomous vehicles drive themselves, passengers are still able to manually control certain features of the car. For example, the person in the vehicle “can manually control the car to go a little bit faster than the car might on its own” (Swant). Google has put much consideration on how the car drives and handles interactions at traffic signals and signs. For example, “Google has begun programming its fleet of self-driving cars to inch forward at for way stops” to make sure there are no cars before proceeding (qtd. In “Making Robot Cars More Human 1). When there are multiple cars traveling together, “computer control enables cars to drive behind one another, so they travel as a virtual unit (Fisher 60). The autonomous Google Car has proven to successfully drive on the roads with other vehicles, but the technology that is in the car is more complicated than it
Currently, the number of people who die each year in car accidents is equivalent to the death total if a 737 plane was to fall out of the sky every hour (newnrhri). For some reason, deaths from car accidents are not as alarming as a plane dropping from the sky, but the numbers match up. Society must find a way to decrease the amount of people who die on the road each year, and society has found a solution in autonomous vehicles. There are currently 2,309 patent filings for autonomous driving technology (oeihwfhd), and that number will continue to increase until the technology is perfected. Although the future use of self-driving cars is uncertain, the technology is here and should be embraced rather than feared.
Because automobiles can be burdensome to society and are a significant cause of fatalities, innovation to make driving safer were bound to be created; they were in the form of self-driving vehicles. “These autonomous cars utilize laser light, GPS, odometry, cameras,
Technology is evolving faster than ever these days, however there is one technology that could revolutionize the transportation industry. This technology is called autonomous cars, also known as self-driving cars. Autonomous cars can be defined as a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment, and navigating without human input. Using different techniques such as GPS and radar, autonomous cars can detect surroundings, thus removing the human element in driving. This would have a positive effect in more ways than we could ever imagine. Research suggests that self-driving cars will become more abundant in the future because they will be more cost-effective, enhance safety, and decrease traffic congestion.