Russian internet giant reveals autonomous car project

Video released today shows a prototype vehicle weaving through a barrel obstacle course and avoiding pedestrians, as the company prepares to unleash it on public roads next year.

Although Yandex's background as an internet services company – and most popular search engine in Russia – doesn't necessarily lend itself to developing automotive hardware, the suite of software elements required for self-driving capabilities is a different story. The company says it has long used mapping, real-time navigation, computer vision and object recognition software in many of its internet services and products, which includes Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Navigator.