Beep beep'm, beep beep, yeah: Google has taught its autonomous vehicles to honk.
But in keeping with the theme of improving upon human drivers, the cars are programmed to blow their horn in the most cordial way.
"The human act of honking may be (performance) art, but our self-driving cars aim to be polite, considerate, and only honk when it makes driving safer for everyone," Google said in its latest Self-Driving Car Project monthly report.
The fleet boasts an arsenal of different types of beeps for use in different circumstances. If another car is slowly reversing toward it, for example, the autonomous vehicle will sound two short, quiet pips—"a friendly heads up to let the driver know we're behind," the report says.
A more urgent situation, like a distracted pedestrian or oncoming bus, would call for a more urgent—in this case, a loud, sustained—beep.
"Our goal is to teach our cars to honk like a patient, seasoned driver," the Web giant said. "As we become more experienced honkers, we hope our cars will also be able to predict how other drivers respond to a beep in different situations."
During testing, Google taught its vehicles to distinguish between tricky situations and false alarms—the difference between a car facing the wrong day during a three-point turn, and one that's about to drive down the wrong side of the road.
Initially, honks were heard only inside the car, so as not to confuse other motorists; at each sound of the horn, test drivers would note whether it was appropriate. The vehicle now broadcasts its beeps to the world.
Google also introduced an ornamental humming sound to its otherwise silent electric vehicle, meant to help alert pedestrians, cyclists, and the visually impaired to the car's presence. "Our prototype mimics the sound characteristics of traditional cars, such as increasing the pitch when it accelerates, and decreasing the pitch when it decelerates," the report says.
As of May 31, Google has 24 Lexus RX450h SUVs and 34 Cozy Coupe-like prototypes on public roads, driving an average of 10,000 to 15,000 autonomous miles per week—a total of more than 1,644,150 self-driving miles since the project launched in 2009.
The company's hard work is paying off: Google reported only one traffic collision in May—a prototype vehicle in manual mode struck a median in Mountain View. The car was travelling at 9mph, and sustained minor damage; there were no injuries.
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