Look out Google! That car in the mirror of your self-driving vehicle is an Audi on auto-pilot. The German auto company said it had become the first car maker to be granted a license to test autonomous vehicles in Nevada, following a trail pioneered by Google and its self-driving Toyota Prius vehicles last year.
Audi said that its self-driving cars come complete with a self-parking system that can allow the cars to seek out an open spot in a parking garage and squeeze itself into it. The vehicle can also park itself on city streets. The company said it prefers to call its technology “piloted driving” rather than “autonomous driving” because it believes that just as with an airplane, ultimate responsibility for the car rests with its driver.
“Audi envisions motorists enjoying the convenience of allowing the car to handle mundane stop-and-go driving conditions, for example, while still being able to take control of the car when needed,” it said in a press release. You may have to wait a little while to experience this pleasure, but not too long. “Piloted driving in this decade is technically feasible,” Audi development chief Wolfgang Durheimer said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, adding that he expected the first such vehicles to enter the mainstream market by the end of the decade. – Yahoo
