Google's self-driving cars now able to navigate crowded city streets

Google's self-driving cars are getting smarter. After logging nearly 700,000 miles without a driver, the autonomous cars are capable of reacting to a multitude of scenarios unique to city driving. The company released a video which shows one of the cars driving through Mountain View, California, home of Google's global headquarters. The autonomous car was able to safely navigate a parked car protruding into its lane, avoid a biker weaving in and out of the bike lane, and approach railroad crossings with prudent caution.

Google discussed how they tackled the complexity of city driving in a blog post:

As it turns out, what looks chaotic and random on a city street to the human eye is actually fairly predictable to a computer. As we've encountered thousands of different situations, we've built software models of what to expect, from the likely (a car stopping at a red light) to the unlikely (blowing through it).

Despite their cars' excellent track record, Google admits there is still a lot of progress to be made. For example, the variances in city planning mean the Self-Driving Project crew have to teach the cars to navigate each city; they are still working on Mountain View. However, the advances showcased in the video represent massive strides in self-driving car technology.

Source: Google | Image via Google

Top 5 tech cars of the 2014 New York International Auto Show

Technology is front and center at the 2014 New York International Auto Show. Sometimes it’s offbeat tech, such as a flying car, but this year the focus is more on driver assistance and infotainment services coming to a wider array of cars. Even small cars are loading up on driver tech, such as forward collision warning and lane departure warning, because the technology is cheaper. They’re also in demand from boomers downsizing into the same cars Millennials buy; the older drivers don’t want to give up the tech they had on their big car or SUV.The 2014 NYIAS also features quick redesigns of cars only a year or two old, such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic. Automakers are getting quicker at fixing what focus groups and reviewers tell them. Most new cars have upgraded infotainment systems; several are showing Apple’s CarPlay. More have LCD displays standard even with no navigation, to better display infotainment and to provide backup cameras in advance of the federal mandate, now set for 2018.
The show runs, as it does each year, for 10 days starting the Friday before Easter at New York City’s Javits Convention Center. Here are ExtremeTech’s picks for the best cars, based on their technology.

 

 Kia Sedona: New UVO, business-class rear seating:
A minivan is among our top tech cars because the 2015 Kia Sedona brings in the latest round of theexcellentKia UVO (your voice) infotainment / telematics system. This edition of UVO adds these self-explaining features: geo-fencing, speed alert, curfew alert, and driver score. As if a teen already mortified to be driving a minivan would want to drive about more and farther than necessary. No matter, this is actually a “midsize multi-purpose vehicle.”

The dashboard buttons are big and well lettered. There is Audi-level driver tech: adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, surround view monitor. A smart tailgate as on the Hyundai Genesis opens when you walk up with the key on your person. The Kia UVO eServices can grab Pandora, iHeart Radio, Siri Eyes Free, and Google Local Search from the Google Play and iTunes stores for your smartphone and control by the head unit.
A minivan is the most comfortable way to haul seven or eight. Second-row Slide-n-Stow seats slide all the way forward against the front seats to maximize cargo. Now the Sedona may also be the best way to carry four adults. Opt for the middle row lounge seats with leg rests that pop out, just like seats at the front of the plane.