At an event of the MOOC Udacity, which has been offering an online-course that finishes with a nanodegree for self-driving car engineers, I spotted a very special car on the parking. A Lincoln MKZ, which is also used by GM for their own developments, was parked in front of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. And this Lincoln serves course students as test vehicle, where they can try their code and algorithms.
The vehicle was equipped with multiple sensors and mounts. In front were two Velodyne Puck-LIDAR systems, on the roof a structure on which one could mount a spinning LIDAR. One of the mount pipes had a camera inserted, in the back was a GPS, and a cable ran loosely from the roof to the trunk. Inside the car was a computer, as well as an emergency shutoff button.
The vehicle itself was plastered with commercials for the nanodegree.
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