Report: Google awarded patent for autonomous driving car
A patent has been given to Google for a potential design of a car switch that would allow a driver to turn autonomous driving off and on.
Approved by the USPTO, the patent, #8,078,349, expands upon the technology of Google’s autonomous cars and the change from human driver to autonomous. In order to accomplish this, the patent says that a GPS locator and sensors would work together to pick up a landing strip and provide an exact location for the car to enable the autonomous switch.
The technology is anticipated for industrial vehicles and for cars to park themselves, and may be reliant on Google Maps.
Behind the project is Nathaniel Fairfield and Christopher Urmson of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute.
– By: Alexandra Koken
Source: Conceivably Tech
