Google is renowned for its willingness as a company to embrace innovation and creativity. Now the internet giant could be planning to team up with Ford for a truly unique project. Collaborating with the car manufacturer will hopefully help Google fulfil what might once have seemed truly impossible to make a reality – the dream of a driverless car.
Development time
It’s been over five years since Google registered its interest in manufacturing an autonomous car. By developing and installing powerful software, known as Google Chauffeur, the conglomerate is hoping to engineer a vehicle that drives itself. The project has been through many trials and tribulations since its conception, however the US government has been quick to support the idea. Indeed, a number of states, including Maryland, Nevada, Michigan, Florida and California have passed legislation that enables the testing of driverless cars on public roads. With the UK government already giving the green light to driverless cars.
Are there issues?
Some issues have been raised in the process, including reports that autonomous cars might actually be very dangerous. The self-driving vehicle is programmed to obey all driving rules at all times, which raised a few eyebrows from experts concerned about ethical dilemmas that may occur. For instance, the car is expected to react in different dangerous situations according to only one rule – to save the people/person who is inside. However, what if the other vehicle involved happens to be a bus full of young children?
Decisions, decisions
Experiments have shown that the autonomous vehicle may not be able to make the subtle adjustments required to avoid a collision, especially when merging into motorways, because it simply drives under the speed limit, while all other drivers drive above it. However, in this case the driverless car is never to blame for the accidents, it is usually hit by the cars travelling above the speed limit. The self-driven car is unable to make decisions as flexibly as a human driver is and this is where its main flaw lies. There are both pros and cons to a driverless future.
The joint venture will undoubtedly benefit both parties, as Google would have Ford’s experience in manufacturing at their disposal, while Ford will have access to the enormous amount of data that Google has gathered from the driving trials undertaken.
We're keeping an eye on this one
It has been reported that an announcement will be made at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January, where Mercedes-Benz announced last year they'd be making autonomous cars. We will continue to follow this story with great excitement as it develops.