Google announced Monday that it has finished building the first fully-functional prototype of its self-driving car.
Ever since the futuristic car was introduced to the world in May, the Internet search giant has created several prototypes that tested different systems, from steering and breaking to self-driving systems like the computer and sensors, according to VentureBeat.
"We've now put all those systems together in this fully functional vehicle- our first complete prototype for fully autonomous driving," Google said.
A total of 64 lasers are used to scan across 360-degrees to ensure driver safety, CNET reported. Other safety-focus features include a camera and a GPS that can map its surroundings. Chris Urmson, head of Google's autonomous vehicle project, said the car's software is designed to react to situations that are both predictable and unpredictable.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, said at a conference earlier this year that he plans for the self-driving car to eventually "transform transportation around the world, and reduce the need for individual car ownership, the need for parking, road congestion and so forth."
The company has included temporary steering wheel and pedal systems while testing these vehicles due to California's new DMV rules, VentureBeat reported.
"Our safety drivers will continue to oversee the vehicle for a while longer, using temporary manual controls as needed while we continue to test and learn," Google said in its announcement on Monday.
Google is calling its self-driving car "the best holiday gift we could've imagined" and plans on testing the vehicle on its test track over the holidays. The company hopes to start letting Northern Californians take these cars to the streets sometime in 2015.
