| Everyone, we suggest you run inside and hide—the robots are here, and they're going to take over your car! Well, not really, but computer brains that can pilot your car for you are becoming a reality—and just two short years from now, Volvo is putting full-autonomous capability on the road. You heard right, Volvo has announced that by 2014, it will begin equipping its next-generation models with what it is calling Traffic Jam Assistance, and it will enable driverless, uh, driving at speeds below 31 mph. Even though the system is only designed for low-speed operation, this still is a huge deal—to have a car automatically handle throttle, braking, and steering duties all at once is entirely new to production vehicles. (Take that, experimental Google Priuses!) Of course, if we zoom out for a moment, so to speak, and look at the steady stream of driver-assistance technology, such autonomous operation isn't so far-fetched. Even Volvo admits it. Traffic Jam Assistance, by and large, is an amalgamation of several existing radar- and camera-based technologies like lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, and Volvo's own City Safety auto-braking functionality. Plus, Volvo's not the only company wading into the auto-steering arena—Nissan just announced it is working on a collision-avoidance setup that can actively steer the car around or away from impending danger.  We assume this man is Swedish, and that he is allowing his Volvo to drive itself at a speed of less than 31 mph According to Volvo, Traffic Jam Assistance will be activated by the push of a button, and that the system will always relinquish control to the driver if he or she decides to make a control input. Once activated, the system maintains a set distance behind the car in front by accelerating and braking while steering the car to keep it within the lane. Unlike a fully autonomous car, however, Traffic Jam Assistance makes no claims about reading signs, acknowledging stoplights, or other such things—it merely can follow a car in front automatically. Also worth noting is the fact that Volvo doesn't specifically outline why Traffic Jam Assistance only works below 31 mph, but based on recent experiences with several different automakers' adaptive cruise control and collision-avoidance systems, our bet is on processing time—higher speeds can mean less time for the computers to sort out what's going on around the car.
Besides processing time, Volvo also has been working on autonomous highway capabilities with its SARTRE road-train technology, which the company has been experimenting with for high-speed, driverless travel. Volvo recently completed a successful real-world test of SARTRE in Barcelona, with three autonomous vehicles following a lead car over 120 miles. The key difference between the SARTRE project and Traffic Jam Assistance, of course, is that the road-train vehicles communicated with one another, whereas the latter does not—and must interact with other cars that are piloted by good ol' human beings. Volvo plans to integrate Traffic Jam Assistance into its upcoming Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), a new modular vehicle architecture that will underpin the brand's future mid-size and large cars. (This platform is similar in concept to Volkswagen's MQB modular architecture.) The first fruits of SPA, which was first previewed by the Concept You show car at last year's Frankfurt auto show, will be born for 2014. Although Volvo doesn't specify whether Traffic Jam Assistance will come to the U.S., we couldn't imagine why it wouldn't—especially if the company hopes to set itself apart in the luxury arena and make good on its goal of reaching 800,000 annual sales by 2020. Read full story » from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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