Google says it will start building its own driverless cars; a strategy that gives the Mountain View giant control of both the hardware and the software, in its foray into commercial autonomous vehicles. The company plans to build about a hundred prototype vehicles,  without steering wheels, accelerators, or brake pedals, because the cars will simply not need them. Instead, the vehicles will be controlled by software and sensors.

Want to know more about these brakeless, accelerator-less cars? Well, they have sensors that remove blind spots, and Google says the cars can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions, helping them navigate busy intersections. The speed of the vehicles have been capped at 25 mph.  The cars will have two seats (and yes, you need to still wear seat belts), a space where you can stash your belongings, buttons to start and stop, and a screen that shows the route.

Google drivers will start testing early versions of the driverless vehicles later this summer. The initial batch of cars will have manual controls, for safety. The company plans to launch a small pilot program for driverless cars  in California in the next couple of years.

Google started working on automated cars in 2010.  It is not the only company to do so. Automaker Nissan, for example, says it will start selling autonomous vehicles by 2020. A self-driving  2011 Cadillac SRX, repurposed by the Carnegie Mellon University can change lanes.

Check out the video of Google’s driverless car:

[Image courtesy: Google]