Google puts a blind man behind the wheel of its self-driving car (video)

[Vehl]

14. Right now the cost will be probably high..

But when mass production starts it will be pretty low.Maybe 5k above non self-driving cars is my guess...might be even lower when this catches on 5 to 10 years from now.

As of now one of the major cost-components will be the Lidar(laser 3d imaging sensor)...everything else is pretty much off the shelf and bolted onto a regular Toyota Prius.

I also see the possibility of "Add on Self Driving" packs being available for sale which enable regular cars to gain their ability, just by plugging in/fitting on "kit"



Everything else is just software. While not this complex, in my college we did design a similar vehicle(we did not have Lidar, but had ultrasonic sensors ) which enabled us to rig a 200$ Radio Controlled car with the "brains" to avoid pedestrians/obstacles and reach a given GPS coordinate. It could navigate itself to the given coordinate using a GPS chip and the sensors while avoiding collisions.

At tests it was able to still evade people walking around campus while traveling at round 10miles/h.

Given that lame college kids like us could do something similar..I'm sure Google is able to do much much better.
The cost for the sensors,GPS chip, wireless stuff, other hardware/chips all added up to only around 300$. (apart from the 200$ cost for the Off the shelf RC car)