Skip to main content

Google patents bus detection system

Less than a month after one of its autonomous cars was in collision with a bus, Google has been awarded a patent for a bus detection system, Bus detection for an Autonomous Vehicle. The timing is coincidental, as Google is said to have applied for the patent in 2014. The patent, which focuses on school buses, describes the technology which should enable Google’s autonomous vehicles to recognise a large vehicle, compare it to known school bus sizes and colours and determine whether it is ‘representativ
March 18, 2016 Read time: 1 min
Less than a month after one of its autonomous cars was in collision with a bus, Google has been awarded a patent for a bus detection system, Bus detection for an Autonomous Vehicle.

The timing is coincidental, as Google is said to have applied for the patent in 2014.

The patent, which focuses on school buses, describes the technology which should enable Google’s autonomous vehicles to recognise a large vehicle, compare it to known school bus sizes and colours and determine whether it is ‘representative of a school bus’.

Related Content

  • When caring about sharing is good business for US automakers
    October 28, 2015
    Although car-sharing and ride-sharing could drastically reduce car sales, David Crawford finds some US automakers are keen to participate in the sharing economy. Growing consumer interest in car- and ride-sharing, as opposed to outright ownership, and ride-sharer Uber’s recently stated intention to make its brand competitive with ownership on cost, are making the major US automotive manufacturers think seriously about their future sales prospects. Some have already begun exploring ways of entering the field
  • Self-driving car safety perspectives
    June 2, 2015
    At yesterday’s Opening Plenary, Chris Urmson’s keynote speech dealt with the reality of driverless cars on our roads. By far and away their greatest benefit to mankind will be the potential to achieve an incredible saving of life and injury on the roads, as Urmson, director of the Google Self-Driving Car program, revealed to delegates. In response to an Associated Press article last month disclosing that self-driving cars have been involved in four accidents in the state of California, Urmson revealed th
  • Ford Mondeo – the car that brakes for pedestrians
    September 26, 2014
    The all-new Ford Mondeo will be equipped with a raft of safety features, including technology that is able to detect people in the road ahead and – if the driver does not respond to warning sounds and displays – automatically applies the brakes. Pedestrian Detection is among a raft of new features and improvements detailed by Ford which enhance the Mondeo. The system is part of the Pre-Collision Assist package that also introduces Active Braking, which can autonomously apply braking to help mitigate rear
  • Deadlines approach for Europe’s automatic crash alert system
    September 15, 2016
    The EU-co-funded I_ HeERO (Infrastructure_ Harmonised eCall European Pilot) project is working to ensure the readiness of national networks of call centres - known as public safety answering posts (PSAPs) - to deal with automated crash alerts arriving via the continent-wide 112 emergency phone number. Following on from its HeERO and HeERO2 pre-deployment predecessors, which enjoyed €16m (US$17.76m) in EU funding, the new initiative runs from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017. It has €30.9 million (US$34.