This is Google's First Real Build of Its Self-Driving Vehicle Prototype [Photo]

Google today unveiled the first real build of its self-driving vehicle prototype. Back in May the company unveiled an early mockup of the vehicle which didn't even have real headlights.

Since then, we’ve been working on different prototypes-of-prototypes, each designed to test different systems of a self-driving car—for example, the typical “car” parts like steering and braking, as well as the “self-driving” parts like the computer and sensors. We’ve now put all those systems together in this fully functional vehicle—our first complete prototype for fully autonomous driving.

Google says it hopes to have the vehicle on the streets of Northern California in the new year. Its safety drivers will continue to oversee the vehicle using temporary manual controls as needed, while continuing to test and learn from the prototype.


Take a look at the before and after below...


New Prototype:


Earlier Mockup: