Uber has officially confirmed that it’s testing its first self-driving car on the streets of Pittsburg. According to a post on the company’s blog, “Uber is still in its early stages of its self-driving efforts”, but these efforts are in line with its mission to “make transportation as reliable as running water – everywhere and for everyone.”
The company’s first autonomous vehicle prototype is a hybrid Ford Fusion which has been fitted with high resolution cameras, radars and laser scanners. With these equipment the vehicles drives around the city collecting essential mapping data as it tests its self-driving capabilities.
There’s however a trained driver riding in the car to monitor it as it navigates through the city.
News about Uber testing its self-driving car in Pittsburg makes a lot of sense as the company opened its first Advanced Technologies centre there, a little over a year ago. That’s in addition to news around that same period stating that certain Pittsburg reporters had spotted an autonomous Uber car driving around.
Oh well, it’ll take quite a number of years before driverless cars take over the roads, even in developed countries. So until then, I fully expect to see a driver the next time I hail an Uber.
