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Drive Sweden: Autonomous City Bus

Drive Sweden: Autonomous City Bus
Location
Gothenburg, Sweden
Date
From to
Project details
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What

This project is a research demonstrator in a confined area. It consists of an automated depot and bus stop docking operation which runs on a closed circuit and is schedule based. The bus is wheelchair accessible.

Why

The aim of this research is to investigate customer benefits, understand customer value, mature technology as well as anticipate regulatory requirements and the corresponding safety testing methods.

© Volvo Group. Drive Sweden: Autonomous City Bus.

© Volvo Group. Drive Sweden: Autonomous City Bus.

Budget & Financing

The budget is financed at 50% by Vinnova (Sweden Innovation Agency) and 50% by the industry.

Regulatory Framework

A suggested framework has recently been presented to the parliament.

Challenges

Technical difficulties have been encountered.

Results & Evaluation

No accidents have occurred.

© Volvo Group. Drive Sweden: Autonomous City Bus.

© Volvo Group. Drive Sweden: Autonomous City Bus.

Associated Research

Algorithms development at Chalmers University is a research associated to the project.

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Lexicon

7 words explained

platooning

Also known as flocking. A collection of (automated) vehicles that travel together, actively coordinated in formation. Platoons decrease the distances between vehicles using electronic, and possibly mechanical, coupling. Platooning allows many vehicles to accelerate or brake simultaneously.

urban setting

High density environment with an efficient high capacity public transport system with good capillarity and high frequencies.

suburban setting

Medium density environment with a good public transport system with radial connections to the city center, but lower capillarity and frequencies. This setting includes suburban cities.

small cities

Small, isolated city with an own public transport system and <100K inhabitants.

rural

Low-density environment, small cities and villages with poor public transport services mainly connecting the villages.

SAE level

The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) levels define the level of vehicle autonomy, or in other words, how much human intervention is still needed for an automated vehicle to operate. Currently, five SAE levels have been defined: Level 0: Automated system issues warnings and may momentarily intervene but has no sustained vehicle control. Level 1 (hands on): Driver and automatic system share vehicle control. The driver must be ready to retake full control at any time. Level 2 (hands off): The automated system takes full control of the vehicle (accelerating, braking, and steering). The driver must monitor the driving and be prepared to intervene immediately at any time if the automated system fails to respond properly. Level 3 (eyes off): The automated system takes full control of the vehicle (accelerating, braking, and steering). The driver must monitor the driving and be prepared to intervene immediately at any time if the automated system fails to respond properly. Level 4 (mind off): As level 3, but no driver attention is ever required for safety, e.g. the driver may safely go to sleep or leave the driver's seat. Level 5 (steering wheel optional): No human intervention is required at all. An example would be a robotic taxi.

V2X

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is the passing of information from a vehicle to any entity that may affect the vehicle, and vice versa.