New technology to automatically control vehicles on motorways has been successfully demonstrated in Europe.
Letting the car do the hard work - SARTRE in action Image: SARTRE |
The Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE) project, led by UK-based Ricardo and with six other companies across four European countries, has successfully demonstrated vehicle platooning in real life, rather than on a simulator.
The technology, which uses a professionally-driven lead vehicle to automatically lead a convoy - or road train - of other vehicles on a motorway, could be available on public roas in as little as ten years according to the SARTRE consortium.
The demonstration, held at Volvo Cars' test track in Sweden, could improve road sefety, reduce fuel consumption and make better use of the world's already over-used roads. The system measures the distance, speed and direction of the vehicle in front and automaticaly adjusts the progess of every vehicle in the convoy accordingly.
The result is the driver of all the vehicles in the convoy - other than the leader - being able to relax, read a newspaper, catch up with work and so on. Because the vehicles are physically independent of each other, any vehicle can leave the convoy at any time. It also allows vehicles to travel at very close proximity without risk, thus helping to reduce traffic congestion.