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Re:Google Street View: A wolf in sheep’s clothing by DennisP on Tuesday June 05, 2012 @09:55AM (#4068616)
I took most of Thrun's course. There was a lot about robot localization based on pre-existing map data...exactly what StreetView is collecting.

If the StreetView cars are using LIDAR, they have a lot of high-quality 3D maps, perfect for robot localization. Even if they're just taking photos, various groups have demonstrated building 3D models from collections of photos.

Re:Google Street View: A wolf in sheep’s clothing by koide on Tuesday June 05, 2012 @10:48AM (#4068837)
Yes, that's right. What I find hard to believe is that the main reason behind the project is the self driving car. I can easily believe it's one of a set of objectives.