The Future Is Now

For a long time, self-driving cars were considered the province of science fiction, or as expensive research projects financed by Fortune 500 companies. But, the technology has gotten to be so affordable, that a few college dropouts have founded their own automated vehicle start up, and are testing their cars on California campuses.

At California State University in Sacramento, a low cost, self-driving shuttle is being tested, in the hopes that it will be road-worthy soon. The shuttle relies on a technology called Lidar to steer clear of obstacles. Google’s self-driving vehicle uses something similar. The price for a Lidar has dropped from around $80,000 to $8,000, making the technology a lot more affordable.