To anyone living in China the little orange van pictured here looks a lot like a Mian Bao Che (meaning bread van due to it’s looks) which is the backbone of China’s small businesses, but this little van has a few tricks up it’s sleeve.
Using a total of 7 video cameras built in to the vehicle and an automated vision system called GOLD, Generic Obstacle and Lane Detector this plucky little van drove 8000 miles from Italy to China completely drvierless!
The vans didn’t do it all without human aid though, there was a researcher in the van to keep an eye on things and to help navigate toll booths, but the rest of the journey was completely automated. One of the vans in the group even decided to pick up a hitch hiker!
The researchers are hoping that the GOLD system will eventually make it in to all cars to aid and complement the drivers abilities.
Via Yahoo News
