According to documents filed at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Google’s parent company Alphabet is testing two separate wireless charging systems that would negate the need for human intervention when charging its vehicles.
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Google, that its driving system could be tested for its driver’s licence.
“In essence, Google seeks to produce a vehicle that contains L4 automated driving capabilities, and removes conventional driver controls and interfaces (like a steering wheel, throttle pedal, and brake pedal, among many other things)”, he wrote in the letter to Chris Urmson, director of Google’s self-driving auto project.
Major automakers and technology companies such as Google are racing to develop and sell vehicles that can drive themselves at least part of the time. California has proposed draft rules that requires steering wheels and a licensed driver in all self-driving cars, Reuters reported.
In the case of Google’s auto, a piece of the vehicle itself – called the Self-Driving System – is doing the driving.
The letter only represents a preliminary opinion by the agency, and many obstacles remain to the rollout of SDVs.
The Government said last week that they’re going to be investing £20m in a host of driverless auto projects, and obviously, seeing as they’re big pals with Google (as anyone with an interest in big companies paying tax will know), it is likely that the tech behemoth will be sending some of their cars to Britain.
For example, current federal rules require alerts on dashboards if tire pressure runs low. Since the NHTSA is responsible for laying down the law on America’s roads, this represents a huge step for Google’s self-driving koala-bots.
The process of rewriting federal regulations governing the design, placement and operation of vehicle controls could take months or years.
A significant barrier to Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) plan to put driverless cars on the roads has been removed, after the NHTSA supported its interpretation that a robot could meet the legal definition of a driver.
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Additionally, the NHTSA has suggested Google specifically apply for exemptions to certain regulations already in place, providing supported documents that vouch the cars are otherwise road safe.
