The guys at Google are not the only ones who are perfecting the autonomous driving technology. While they had reached a considerable milestone in getting the driverless tech into the streets with their Prius, the brilliant minds at Stanford University are also in the same pursuit of bringing the “I,Robot” self-driving car into reality.
But instead of taking their Audi TTS test mule to roam the streets and behave properly in traffic, we could already get a hint from the car that they are using that is not the same test as what Google are conducting right now. This 2.0-liter turbocharged TTS nicknamed “Shelley” has actually undergone various high-speed tests, which some of them took place at the famous Pikes Peak in Colorado.
And recently, they had brought Shelley down for a run at the Thunderhill Raceway in California where it had clocked an impressive speed of almost 200km/h at the 4.83km racetrack. The autonomous program of the car is like no other as it was developed specifically for speed, such as the unique ability in pinpointing the exact braking spots on the track and also the tradeoff between braking and steering.
The combination of high-speed turns, chicanes and uphill climbs of the 15-turn course provides a perfect package in testing both the car and the program’s ability in testing the whole system. And since Shelley is designed to go fast, it could not be used on the road like Google’s Prius. It could, however, act as a platform to someday enhance the safety features available on passenger cars, said the Stanford Engineering Department.
