Local London government transportation chiefs are engaged in active discussions with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in trying to persuade the organization to trial its driverless automobiles in the capital.
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The deputy mayor for transport, Isabel Dedring, informed the public that officials had a meeting with Alphabet to persuade the technology giant to extend its pilot scheme to London. It would be the first time that Alphabet’s autonomous cars have been tested extensively outside America.
Alphabet’s batch of prototype driverless cars depend on software as well as sensors to drive. Their shape is more curved than conventional automobiles to permit cameras, radars and lasers to sense objects in all directions. The automobiles are driven by electric batteries.
Trials have been restricted to Mountain View California and Austin Texas. However future testing will happen in Kirkland, Washington to see how the automobiles operate in wet conditions.
Google is presently trialing wireless charging products for its electric self-driving automobiles. Papers filed at the U.S Federal Communication Commission (FCC) suggest that the company is trying to eliminate charger cables and instead beam power to them.
The filings disclose that Google has been trialing two wireless charging systems for its prototype electric self-driving automobiles in California. A New York based startup Hevo Power obtained permission in February 2015 to install a charger at Google’s premises in Mountain View, California. In July, there was a similar filing from Philadelphia-based Momentum Dynamics. The address on the filing was of the X division, Google’s most top secret lab, where Google’s self-driving automobiles are being developed.
Both companies’ systems supply power from a transmitter embedded in land to a receiver placed below an electric automobile using a procedure termed resonant magnetic induction. Hevo’s system at the Googleplex had a prototype charger known as Alpha that can supply 1.5 Kilowatts of power from a circular transmitter from places like a manhole cover in the pavement. Momentum Dynamics says that it has made wireless transmitters with power capacities of up to 200 kW.
Interestingly, the UK government declared that it will invest £20 million in 8 driverless automobile projects. British Transportation Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the technology would significantly impact the mode of traveling in the near future.
