Volvo will start public road demonstration experiment using 100 autonomous vehicles within a few years

Based in SwedenVolvo Car GroupAnnounced plans to conduct demonstration experiments of autonomous vehicles in Sweden in cooperation with multiple government agencies. For the experiment will be Sweden's second largest cityGothenburgAnd its suburban general roads will be used and 100 demonstration vehicles of scale will be introduced.

Volvo Car Group initiatives world unique Swedish pilot project with self-driving cars on public roads - Volvo Car Group Global Media Newsroom
https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/136182/volvo-car-group-initiates-world-unique-swedish-pilot-project-with-self-driving-cars-on-public-roads

"Drive Me - Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility(Autonomous Vehicle for Sustainable Mobility) "is a project on which Volvo Car Group, the leading automaker of the country, and several government organizations etc. (Sweden Transportation Administration Bureau, Sweden Transportation Authority, Lind Holmen Science Park, Gothenburg city) are progressing together by hand, and it will be a big social experiment using the public road on which general vehicles are running.


For the demonstration experiments, Gothenburg City and its adjacent general road of 50 km in total length are used, including highway and traffic jams. Also, autonomous vehicles are scheduled to be equipped with a function to automatically park even if the driver does not ride, and it is also possible for the car to park and find parking spaces on their own after the driver lowers the driver Become.


The following points are verified in "Drive Me" project.

· Benefits of both autonomous vehicles to society and economy that are brought about by improving traffic efficiency, traffic environment, and safety
· Transport infrastructure necessary for autonomous operation
· Transportation environment suitable for autonomous driving vehicles
· Reliability of autonomous driver of the driver
· Affinity for surrounding drivers (response to autonomous driving vehicles)

The project will be launched in 2014, and we are planning to develop users' research and technical development first, and development of cloud functions to utilize user interface and operation data. Actually autonomous driving vehicles are going to be around 2017 when they start running.

Mr. Hokkan Samuelson, President and CEO of Volvo Car Group, said "Autonomous vehicles are indispensable for Volvo Cars, as well as the vision of eradicating traffic accident dead that the Swedish government is advancing.This general road "The pilot project in this project is an important step in seeking this goal." Also, Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd, Sweden Infrastructure Minister "Sweden has built up its own government, industry and academic collaborative stance and has made the most advanced position in terms of traffic safety among the world We made a comment that autonomous vehicles and advanced transportation infrastructure "smart infrastructure" will be the next step in traffic safety and the environment, as well as contribute to employment and opportunities in Sweden. " It is.

Operation image during automatic operation is here. First, when you press the automatic operation button on the handle ... ...


"Autonomous Drive (autonomous driving)" is displayed on the instrument panel.


The surrounding environment is analyzed based on information from various sensors, and safe driving operation is performed automatically.


To return to manual operation, press the button on the handle.


It changed into the manual mode.


Vehicles used for demonstration experiments are defined as "highly autonomous vehicles" by the German Federal Road Traffic Research Institute (BASt), and it is said that they can bear all driving functions without driver's judgment . The first model will be the new XC 90 released in 2014.