You’ve probably heard of companies testing vehicles that can drive themselves.  They even have races and competitions for vehicles that are completely automated and have to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. Cars that can monitor the road sides and steer or check on the vehicles in front of you and help with braking to prevent accidents.  Would you have ever considered Google to be one of those companies?

We’ve already heard of vehicles coming out that use Android as their core software for the entertainment systems and GPS, but that’s easy! I came across this blog post from Google talking about how they have been testing completely automated vehicles on the streets of California.  The article doesn’t mention Android but this doesn’t mean Android may not be the base OS of the controlling systems. Some form of Android would be an ideal candidate for this.

Google said “they have gathered some of the very best engineers from the DARPA Challenges,” which for those of you who haven’t heard of them, are a series of autonomous vehicle races organized by the U.S. Government.

From the Google blog:

Larry and Sergey founded Google because they wanted to help solve really big problems using technology. And one of the big problems we’re working on today is car safety and efficiency. Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use.

So we have developed technology for cars that can drive themselves. Our automated cars, manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard. They’ve driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe. All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles. We think this is a first in robotics research.

Imagine a world where you can get up in the morning, step into your vehicle and say “Navigate to Work” and that’s it.  You sit back, relax, crack open your laptop and enjoy your chauffeur-driven experience to your office.  Does this also mean that your car makes your coffee too like something from the Starship Enterprise?  Captain Kirk would be happy.

Imagine getting instant upgrades and add-ons and maybe even a little turbo boost added by the likes of Cyanogen and Enomther? LOL.  It’s an exciting future and I’m ready for it, are you?  Only problem is, who do the insurance companies blame when there is an accident?

It’s still a long way off, but the idea that I’d get to use this in my lifetime is pretty exciting stuff!