หลายคนที่ใช้รถยนต์ Volvo รุ่นใหม่อยู่คงเคยชินกับความสบายของ ACC ที่รถของเราจะรักษาความเร็วตามรถยนต์คันข้างหน้า
แต่ระบบใหม่ นอกจากนำคุณความงามความดีของระบบก่อนหน้ามาใช้แล้ว ยังเพิ่มความสามารถในการบังคับพวงมาลัยให้ตามรถยนต์คันข้างหน้าได้อีกด้วย
For the first time ever a road train comprising a Volvo XC60, a Volvo V60 and a Volvo S60 plus one truck automatically driving in convoy behind a lead vehicle has operated on a public motorway among other road users. The historic test in Spain was highly successful.
The project aims to deliver improved comfort for drivers, who can now spend their time doing other things while driving. They can work on their laptops, read a book or sit back and enjoy a relaxed lunch.
Naturally the project also aims to improve traffic safety, reduce environmental impact and - thanks to smooth speed control - cut the risk of traffic tailbacks.
One lead vehicle and four trailing vehicles - consisting of a Volvo S60, a Volvo V60 and a Volvo XC60 plus a truck - made up the historic road train in Spain.
"Driving among other road-users is a great milestone in our project. It was truly thrilling," says Linda Wahlström. The vehicles drove at 85 kilometres an hour. The gap between each vehicle was just six metres. "During our trials on the test circuit we tried out gaps from five to fifteen metres," relates Linda Wahlström.
Sitting in a car just six metres behind another one while travelling at 85 km/h and relying totally on the technology may feel a bit scary. But the experiences gained so far indicate that people acclimatise very quickly.
The three-year SARTRE project has been under way since 2009. All told, the vehicles in the project have covered about 10,000 kilometres. After the test on the public roads in Spain, the project is now entering a new phase with the focus on analysis of fuel consumption.
"We've learnt a whole lot during this period. People think that autonomous driving is science fiction, but the fact is that the technology is already here. From the purely conceptual viewpoint, it works fine and road train will be around in one form or another in the future," says Linda Wahlström.
She continues:
"We've focused really hard on changing as little as possible in existing systems. Everything should function without any infrastructure changes to the roads or expensive additional components in the cars. Apart from the software developed as part of the project, it is really only the wireless network installed between the cars that set them apart from other cars available in showrooms today."
