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So, we’ve been hearing a lot again about robot-driven cars, something that we have become familiar with through science-fiction movies, books, as well as World Fair pavilions since the 1950s.
Now comes a report from San Francisco that a modified Toyota Prius took a trip through San Francisco without a driver. No surprise with the new technologies that has been developed in recent years.
Anyway, a gentleman by the name of Anthony Levandowski, a 28 year old computer engineer who resides in San Francisco and works in Silicon Valley for Google, built the car.
The Prius is called Pribot. Cute. Levandowski, thought about developing such a car as he sat frustrated in traffic during commutes from San Francisco to Silicon Valley and back, “built” a precise 3D map of the areas of San Francisco in which the car would be driving. The car used this along with GPS, inertial guidance, and infrared lasers that scanned the surroundings.
Levandowski did the project on his own without any connection to Google or any other Silicon Valley company.
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