#Volvo Propose Magnets in Roads for Self-Driving Cars Volvo car manufacturer has recently finished a research project which proposes magnet laden roads as an assistant for self-driving cars. “The magnets create an invisible ‘railway’ that literally paves the way for a positioning inaccuracy of less than one decimetre (10 cm),” says Jonas Ekmark, Preventive Safety Leader at Volvo Car Group. “We have tested the technology at a variety of speeds and the results so far are promising. The next step is to conduct tests in real-life traffic.” The project has been researched at Volvo Test Centre in Hallered, Sweden, on a 100 meters test track that was loaded with a pattern of ferrite magnets (40×15 mm) embedded 200mm into the road; the car of course is equipped with magnet sensing technology. “Accurate, reliable positioning is a necessary prerequisite for a self-driving car … Our experience so far is that ferrite magnets are an efficient, reliable and relatively cheap solution, both when it comes to the infrastructure and on-board sensor technology,” Ekmark said, “the next step is to conduct tests in real-life traffic.” Volvo now plans to further the research by unleashing autonomous cars to public roads to see how the cars can tackle real traffic.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 14:59:14 +0000
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