Google shows off first 'complete prototype' for its self-driving car project

Google has been working on its self-driving car project for some time but today the company revealed the first image of what it calls its "first complete prototype for fully autonomous driving."

Google had revealed very early model for its car project in May but that vehicle was apparently more of a mockup, with the company stating today that it didn't even have real headlights. In a post on its Google+ page, it stated:

Since then, we've been working on different prototypes-of-prototypes, each designed to test different systems of a self-driving car—for example, the typical "car" parts like steering and braking, as well as the "self-driving" parts like the computer and sensors. We've now put all those systems together in this fully functional vehicle—our first complete prototype for fully autonomous driving.

Google plans to test this new prototype on its test track during the holiday season and hopes to put it on real streets sometime in 2015. However, when and if that happens, Google says the car will still have real human drivers inside "using temporary manual controls as needed while we continue to test and learn."

Source: Google

John Callaham