• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Inside Story of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
  • Honda’s Big Bet on Fuel-Cell Tech Doesn’t Stop with Passenger Cars
  • First Look: 2024 BMW X5 and X6
  • Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Expand Global Partnership
  • Better the Second Time: Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
  • VinFast Raises Launch Concerns by Cutting 80 U.S. Jobs
  • Faraday Future Secures Cash, Prepares to Build Cars
  • BMW Spending $865M in Mexico for EV, Battery Plants
  • Q&A: Dave Marek, Acura Global Creative Director
  • Biden Admin. Makes EV Credits Available to More Buyers
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Accord
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus GX 460 Black Line
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW X1 xDrive28i
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro EV
    • A Week With: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > Volvo Will Put 100 Autonomous Vehicles on Road by 2017

        Volvo Will Put 100 Autonomous Vehicles on Road by 2017

        Project Drive Me will turn to the public to test the technology.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Feb. 20, 2015
        A variety of laser, radar, cameras and other sensors will give the pilot vehicles a 360-degree view.

        Volvo plans to launch an autonomous vehicle pilot program by 2017, and it intends to use real motorists in its home town of Gothenberg, Sweden to get feedback on how well the technology works.

        Dubbed Drive Me, the project is one of the more ambitious laid out by a conventional carmaker – though tech giant Google is already starting to roll out the first of 100 self-driving vehicles it plans to use as part of a test program near its Silicon Valley headquarters. Most major manufacturers are now working on autonomous technologies, with some predicting the first such vehicles could go on sale early in the next decade.

        We're Your Auto-Pilot!

        “We are entering uncharted territory in the field of autonomous driving,” said Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research and Development for the Volvo Car Group. “Taking the exciting step to a public pilot, with the ambition to enable ordinary people to sit behind the wheel in normal traffic on public roads, has never been done before.”

        At first glance, the vehicles might be taken for any other conventional Volvo vehicle, but they will be equipped with a variety of sensors designed to detect weather and traffic, as well as spot pedestrians and other potential obstacles. These include:

        • A combined radar and camera system mounted at the top of the windshield, similar to what will appear in the 2016 Volvo XC90 that goes on sale this coming spring;
        • Four additional radar units placed at the corners of vehicles and which monitor what’s happening around the vehicle;
        • Four more cameras that will also create a 30-degree view of what’s happening;
        • A Multi-beam laser scanner in the front bumper that can look for cars, pedestrians and other obstacles nearly 500 feet ahead;
        • Ultrasonic sensors around the vehicle to assist in parking and low-speed maneuvers;
        • Two longer-range radar systems mounted in the rear bumper; and
        • A trifocal camera system that compares different views of the road ahead to create a digital form of depth perception.

        The 100 pilot vehicles also will be equipped with GPS navigation and be linked to a wireless vehicle-to-infrastructure network being set up in Gothenberg.

        (New IIHS study suggests the era of zero highway deaths is a real possibility. Click Here to learn more.)

        City officials will have the ability to disable the autonomous technology, say, when weather is bad, or if other problems occur. That would require motorists to take direct control. Indeed, that is an issue that researchers are focusing on closely, as one of the big questions is how long of a warning would a human co-pilot need to take over driving duties if a vehicle’s autonomous technology were to be disabled.

        All of the Drive Me vehicles will still be equipped with a conventional steering wheel and pedals, allowing a motorist to take over. That’s a big difference from the Google Car pilot. Only some of the initial vehicles will have traditional controls. Later models are expected to have nothing more than an emergency shut-off button.

        (Britain has launched four autonomous vehicle pilot programs. Click Here to learn more.)

        Experts disagree over the pace at which autonomous vehicle technology will roll out. Google and Nissan are some of the more ambitious, the Japanese carmaker already promising to have a fully self-controlled product on the market by 2020.

        By contrast, “We think it will take a little longer than some other companies do,” cautioned Steffen Linkenbach, the director of the North American autonomous vehicle research program run by Continental Teves, in an interview with TheDetroitBureau.com.

        He anticipates that some semi-autonomous systems – such as Cadillac’s SuperDrive which will allow hands-off operation on limited-access roads — will be available by the beginning of the decade. But Linkenbach is among those proponents who don’t anticipate full, self-driving models to reach consumers until as much as a decade or more from now.

        The Volvo and Google tests could help determine the actual timeframe for autonomous vehicles to reach production.

        (Ford’s new Focus will offer anti-spin-out technology. Click Here for more details.)

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Inside Story of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

        Today
        2023 Honda CR-V hybrid production REL

        Honda’s Big Bet on Fuel-Cell Tech Doesn’t Stop with Passenger Cars

        Today
        2024 BMW X5 xDrive 50e - front 3-4 driving v2

        First Look: 2024 BMW X5 and X6

        Yesterday

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: