Dale Sternberg - Google's Self-Driving Car By Dale Sternberg

Introduction

•A managing director of The Firm Search LLC, out of Los Angeles, California, Dale Sternberg continues her career of more than 15 years in executive recruiting. Interested in developments in technology, Dale Sternberg enjoyed recently learning about the self-driving car.

The Self Driving Car• The self-driving car has become one of Google's

most exciting ongoing projects. These vehicles utilize a combination of laser/radar systems, laser-based range finders, and 3D maps to navigate the roads and manage movement in traffic. Over the past three years, self-driving cars have logged more than 700,000 miles, mostly on highways and rural streets. Since Nevada became the first state to legalize their use in 2011, California, Florida, and Michigan have followed suit, although all four states only allow them to be driven for testing and require a human driver to be present during the tests.

Conclusion• Starting in 2013, Google placed an increased emphasis

on training its autonomous vehicles to drive in the city. These settings require a greater attention to detail than rural or suburban locations. In addition to the increased frequency of stop-and-go driving, the automobiles must also contend with a greater amount of road obstacles, such as pedestrians and cyclists. In April 2013, Chris Urmson, the head of the self-driving-car project for Google, blogged about advancements made in software that allow the cars to recognize hand signals, stop signs, and buses. As this technology improves, cars will ultimately become superior drivers to humans, since machines don’t get sleepy or distracted.