Volvo Cars are currently working with the Swedish Transport Authority and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration on a project which will allow cars to effectively talk to each other. It is planned that these tests will show cars informing each other as to conditions that relate to road friction – like icy patches.
Information will be shared from car to car through a cloud-based network. Volvo aim to make this safety technology available to customers over the next few years and the proof of this is that they have just increased their test fleet from 50 cars to 1,000.
Erik Israelsson, Project Leader Cooperative ITS (Intelligent Transport System), said “The more information that can be shared on the road, the fewer surprises there are. And when you’re driving, surprises are what you most want to avoid. In light of that, we’ve developed a slippery-road alert, which notifies drivers about icy patches and contributes to making winter road maintenance more efficient. We’re also adding a hazard-light alert, which will tell drivers if another vehicle in the area has its hazard lights on. With these first two features, we have a great platform for developing additional safety features. This is just the beginning.”
The testing phase for this technology is about to begin in Gothenburg and Oslo. Volvo hopes that these will show how this system operated in real winter conditions. Other than sending information to oncoming cars this technology will also send information to road administrators about road conditions. According to Volvo this should better prepare administrators or councils for their road-maintenance planning. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration plans on conducting an independent assessment of the Volvo testing to identify additional uses for the data.
Volvo has strategically invested in partnerships to create cloud-based solutions. This initiative will be the first safety feature in the Volvo cloud. It is their aim to offer customers an experience which is fully connected.
“In the future we will have increased the exchange of vital information between vehicles, as well as between vehicles and infrastructure,” says Erik Israelsson. “There is considerable potential in this area, including safer traffic, a more comfortable drive and improved traffic flow,” he adds.
“This will bring us closer to our safety vision that by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car. And it’s another way in which the ‘Designed around you’ philosophy improves the driving experience,” concludes Erik Israelsson.
