Custom built hardware, including the actuators.
Custom built RTOS on micro nodes.
Driving via openCV, hough transforms for lane detection, stereovision and flows for obstacles, surf/etc for traffic signs(don't ask, I was learning)on a stack of 2 laptops connected via gigabit ethernet.
Nicest thing: I got the models trained mainly without moving the car, by pumping the framebuffer of two racing/car games, rFactor and GTA3 through glcs to openCV and controlling the games via uinput to make a virtual city to drive in.
Don't have a lot of pics, here's some HW:
http://imgur.com/9cfzbMv ( yes, that's an old cordless drill and an angle grinder head with a bespoke bike chain :) )
http://imgur.com/5x9T9gi (piston is weirdly offset so I could still put my foot on the brake in emergencies, like that one time i smashed it into a fence...)
http://imgur.com/Ig7MaLT (notice how I kept the costs down to almost nothing, in this case the air distributor for the brakes made with Meccano and old air valves and a geared motor, since I didn't have the funds to buy anything)