The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Google Driverless Cars

Google's self-driving cars now cover 3m simulated miles each day

Author

By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

February 2, 2016 | 2 min read

Google's self-driving cars haven't hit roads quite yet, but the tech giant's data centres are helping them simulate 3m miles of autonomous driving per day.

According to the firm's monthly report on its self-driving car project, it has managed to cover a large amount of ground without a single car leaving the garage thanks virtual testing.

The update noted: "One benefit of teaching a computer to drive is that it has great memory and recall. With our simulator, we’re able to call upon the millions of miles we’ve already driven and drive those miles again with the updated software."

"For example, to make left turns at an intersection more comfortable for our passengers, we modified our software to adjust the angle at which our cars would travel. To test this change, we then rerun our entire driving history of 2+ million miles with the new turning pattern to ensure that it doesn’t just make our car better at left turns, but that the changes creates a better driving experience overall," it added.

Testing the product in this real-world setting may help alleviate consumer concerns over the safety of automated cars.

Back in December, Google blasted Californian authorities' after they moved to enforce strict new rules around driverless cars, including a mandate stipulating that all automatic vehicles should carry a licensed driver.

Google Driverless Cars

More from Google

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +