Waymo: Google’s Self-Driving Car is Ready to Take the Wheel

Google has launched Waymo as its separate self driving car unit. Waymo: Google’s Self-Driving Car is Ready to Take the Wheel. This entity was launched under the parent company Alphabet Umbrella. The name “Waymo” is derived from its mission of finding “a new way forward in mobility”.

Waymo: Google’s Self-Driving Car is Ready to Take the Wheel

According to reports, Google has backed off its attempts to create a vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals in favor of making partnerships with existing vehicle manufacturers. Google is testing these vehicles in Washington, California, Arizona and Texas.

Waymo CEO John Krafcik said on Tuesday that its autonomous driving technology has reached an inflection point.

Mr John said :

“We’re close to bringing this to a lot of people. We’re a self-driving car company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get around”

The main goal for Google was to project a vehicle that is accountable for 100 percent of driving. This approach was very difficult to be implemented. Eventually it was safer than semi-autonomous vehicles which may require a driver to take back control of the car without awareness of surroundings.

Krafcik said:

This ride was possible because our cars can now handle the most difficult driving tasks, such as detecting and responding to emergency vehicles, mastering multi-lane four-way stops, and anticipating what unpredictable humans will do on the road

According to Waymo its final goal was to implement its driverless system on cars without steering wheels or pedals because it didn’t want humans to feel as if they needed to monitor the vehicle. However, government regulations currently require a vehicle to have steering wheels and pedals.

The company also revealed that it conducted the world’s first fully autonomous ride with a passenger, in October 2015. That car had no steering wheel and brake pedals. The passenger was Steve Mahan who is legally blind. The ride in Austin, Texas, took him from a city park to a doctor’s office.

Apple has also revealed that it’s developing self-driving vehicle technology. The company has not confirmed any plan to commercialize it.

Also Read: Apple Reveals it is Working on Self-Driving Cars