Google unveiled its first “fully functional” self-driving car Monday, the company said.<\/p>\n
“Today we’re unwrapping the best holiday gift we could’ve imagined: the first real build of our self-driving vehicle prototype,” the statement on the company’s Google Plus social media site said.<\/p>\n
Google announced in May it would develop its own self-driving vehicles, which would use an array of sensors and computers to navigate streets without a driver at the controls.<\/p>\n
“Since then, we’ve been working on different prototypes-of-prototypes, each designed to test different systems of a self-driving car,” the company said Monday.<\/p>\n
Those specialized prototypes included models to test steering and braking, as well as computers and sensors.<\/p>\n
“We’ve now put all those systems together in this fully functional vehicle – our first complete prototype for fully autonomous driving,” Google said.<\/p>\n
Test drivers will, however, continue to use manual controls “as needed” as they develop the vehicles, the company said.<\/p>\n
Google teased real-world testing of the car in the near future: “We hope to see you on the streets of Northern California in the new year.”<\/p>\n