<p>Google unveiled plans to build its own self-driving car that it hopes to begin testing in the coming months.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"They won't have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal... because they don't need them. Our software and sensors do all the work," Google's Chris Urmson said in a blog post.<br /><br />Urmson said Google plans to build about 100 prototype vehicles, "and later this summer, our safety drivers will start testing early versions of these vehicles that have manual controls."<br /><br />He added, "If all goes well, we'd like to run a small pilot program here in California in the next couple of years."<br /><br />For Google, the car marks a shift away from adapting vehicles made by others in its quest to pioneer individual transport that needs only a stop-and-go function.<br /><br />"It was inspiring to start with a blank sheet of paper and ask, 'What should be different about this kind of vehicle?'" the post said.<br /><br />The top speed of the battery-powered prototypes will be 40 kilometres per hour and are designed for utility, not luxury.<br /><br />"We're light on creature comforts, but we'll have two seats (with seatbelts), a space for passengers' belongings, buttons to start and stop, and a screen that shows the route -- and that's about it," Urmson said.<br /><br />The blog post a photo of a prototype and an artist's rendering -- both rounded bug-looking vehicles.<br />"We took a look from the ground up of what a self-driving car would look like," Google co-founder Sergey Brin said at a conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.<br /><br />"The reason I'm so excited about these prototypes and the self-driving car project in general is the ability to change the world and the community around you," Brin added.<br /><br />Until now Google has been re-fitting Lexus and Honda cars to work as self-driving ones.<br />In an interview, Urmson said the new Google cars will have numerous safety features learned from the company's research.<br /><br />"In our car there is no steering wheel so we have to design really fundamental capabilities," he said.<br />"So we have effectively two motors and they work so if one of them fails the other can steer, so the car can always control where it's going, and similar with brakes."<br /><br />In addition to crash protection for the occupant, the car has features to avoid pedestrians and other road users.</p>
<p>Google unveiled plans to build its own self-driving car that it hopes to begin testing in the coming months.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"They won't have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal... because they don't need them. Our software and sensors do all the work," Google's Chris Urmson said in a blog post.<br /><br />Urmson said Google plans to build about 100 prototype vehicles, "and later this summer, our safety drivers will start testing early versions of these vehicles that have manual controls."<br /><br />He added, "If all goes well, we'd like to run a small pilot program here in California in the next couple of years."<br /><br />For Google, the car marks a shift away from adapting vehicles made by others in its quest to pioneer individual transport that needs only a stop-and-go function.<br /><br />"It was inspiring to start with a blank sheet of paper and ask, 'What should be different about this kind of vehicle?'" the post said.<br /><br />The top speed of the battery-powered prototypes will be 40 kilometres per hour and are designed for utility, not luxury.<br /><br />"We're light on creature comforts, but we'll have two seats (with seatbelts), a space for passengers' belongings, buttons to start and stop, and a screen that shows the route -- and that's about it," Urmson said.<br /><br />The blog post a photo of a prototype and an artist's rendering -- both rounded bug-looking vehicles.<br />"We took a look from the ground up of what a self-driving car would look like," Google co-founder Sergey Brin said at a conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.<br /><br />"The reason I'm so excited about these prototypes and the self-driving car project in general is the ability to change the world and the community around you," Brin added.<br /><br />Until now Google has been re-fitting Lexus and Honda cars to work as self-driving ones.<br />In an interview, Urmson said the new Google cars will have numerous safety features learned from the company's research.<br /><br />"In our car there is no steering wheel so we have to design really fundamental capabilities," he said.<br />"So we have effectively two motors and they work so if one of them fails the other can steer, so the car can always control where it's going, and similar with brakes."<br /><br />In addition to crash protection for the occupant, the car has features to avoid pedestrians and other road users.</p>