X Development is one of the leading companies to create self-driving cars. It started as a research project for the company in which they called Waymo.

The advancements in technology these days are so fast-paced. One day, we’re watching movies with self-driving cars. The next thing you know, we actually have self-driving cars.

One of the leading companies to achieve such a feat is Google or rather, X Development (former name, Google X). It started as a research project for the company in which they called Waymo. This particular project was at the forefront of today’s self-driving vehicle revolution.

What will the Waymo-Google self-driving technology be used for?

The mission of this project is to make it safe and easy for passengers to move around. The idea is very simple. The research took into consideration the fact that there are good drivers on the planet.

But there are also those who aren’t as good. If people used self-driving cars instead, the world could potentially be safer. As for now, we can’t really say that that’s true.

But self-driving cars like that from Waymo can be of tremendous help to people who have minimal to no driving capability at all. These can include disabled drivers and elderly people.

But the real-world application in which this self-driving technology will be used for is for the transport of goods and people.

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What are Waymo cars?

Waymo was built to be more of a self-driving tech rather than being an actual vehicle. Google’s Firefly prototype, however, was one line off of this philosophy.

Google designed the Firefly purely as a self-driving vehicle. It had no gas or brake pedals, no traditional controls, and no steering wheel. The Firefly was more like a glimpse into what future driverless vehicles could look like.

But, Waymo decided to leave the Firefly concept behind after choosing to pursue another direction.

Waymo was built to be more of a self-driving tech rather than being an actual vehicle

The technology behind the self-driving car

On the surface, the technology responsible for Waymo’s self-driving cars seems easy enough to understand. Each of the Waymo cars will have a highly detailed map of the region where it will make its rounds. These maps are highly accurate even to the smallest detail. It includes road signs, stop lights and other traffic signals.

Asides from that, every single Waymo car is also set up with LIDAR systems. This technology uses lasers that are supposed to generate accurate spatial representations. Aside from that, this technology is also able to generate and capture the same info from all around the vehicle.

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The technology responsible for Waymo’s self-driving cars seems easy enough to understand

To get from one place to another, Waymo first plots the course and then reacts to the traffic flow in the surroundings. Thanks to the LIDAR, the map data and other sensors, the Waygo reaches point A to point B safely.

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