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Driverless Cars Still Have Blind Spots. How Can Experts Fix Them?

Visual challenges remain before autonomous cars are ready for the masses.

By Jaclyn Trop
May 4, 2020 1:00 PMMay 6, 2020 3:12 PM
WaymoiPace
Waymo's latest system, the Waymo Driver, includes a system of cameras, lidar and radar that help the car eliminate blind spots. (Credit: Waymo)

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In 2004, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a challenge: $1 million to the first team of engineers to develop an autonomous vehicle to race across the Mojave Desert.

Though the prize went unclaimed, the challenge publicized an idea that once belonged to science fiction — the driverless car. It caught the attention of Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who convened a team of engineers to buy cars from dealership lots and retrofit them with off-the-shelf sensors.

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