Volvo has partnered seven European members in a project to develop autonomous driving technology for the highways. Named SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment), the project aims to do without human inputs when driving in platoons on the highways. This leaves the driver time to do other things during the transit, and save energy of up to 20% thanks to the reduced air drag and travelling at a constant speed.
The project has successfully completed the first test demonstrations of a multiple vehicle platoon, which consist of a lead truck and three cars. All vehicles are driven autonomously at speeds of up to 90 km/h, with no more than six metres in between the vehicles. Speaking after the demonstration, Erik Coelingh, technical project manager at the Volvo Car Corporation commented,” The aim is for the entire road train to be completed in autumn 2012. By then we will have four vehicles after one lead vehicle driving at 90 km/h”.
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