Google takes autonomous cars on road test

Two fully autonomous cars created by Google has logged more than 140,000 miles in a series of tests in and around California. The Internet search giant announced over the weekend that the robotic cars have driven themselves through Lombard Street in San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Pacific Coast Highway, around Lake Tahoe and from Google's Mountain View headquarters to Santa Monica

The cars are equipped with video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to monitor traffic, as well as detailed maps. Google's data centers process the data gathered by the cars when mapping their terrain.

Google said it gathered the top engineers from the DARPA Challenges, a series of autonomous vehicle races, to help design the cars, which were never unmanned to ensure safety.

The technology has the potential of significantly reducing the number of accident deaths, as well as cutting energy consumption by reducing car usage.