Experiments have been conducted on automating cars since at least the 1920s; promising trials took place in the 1950s and work has proceeded since then. The first self - sufficient and truly autonomous cars appeared in the 1980s, with Carnegie Mellon University 's Navlab and ALV projects in 1984 and Mercedes - Benz and Bundeswehr University Munich 's Eureka Prometheus Project in 1987. Since then, numerous major companies and research organizations have developed working prototype autonomous vehicles including Mercedes - Benz, General Motors, Continental Automotive Systems, Autoliv Inc., Bosch, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, Volvo, Vislab from University of Parma, Oxford University and Google. In July 2013, Vislab demonstrated BRAiVE, a vehicle that moved autonomously on a mixed traffic route open to public traffic.
when was the first self driving car release
1980s