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Volvo Kicks Off Drive Me, A Public Autonomous Driving Experiment

Volvo has commenced the Drive Me project, an initiative that it describes as the most ambitious and advanced public autonomous driving experiment in the world.
Volvo XC90 for Drive Me project 13 photos
Photo: Volvo
Volvo XC90 for Drive Me projectErik Coelingh, Senior Technical Leader at Volvo Cars, with the very first autonomous XC90 and the Autonomous Driving Brain that will be used in the Drive Me project in GothenburgSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from VolvoSelf-driving prototype from Volvo
Volvo will let regular families use autonomous vehicles on public roads. The project has been kicked off with the completion of the first XC90 model that will be employed in the project. Evidently, it will be awhile until that car, or anyone like it, will get in the hands of Sweden’s equivalent of an average Joe, along with his family.

However, the whole point of the Drive Me project is that it will happen. Just like MINI let selected owners drive prototypes of its first electric model, a converted MINI Hatch, Volvo will allow regular users experience autonomous driving in day-to-day situations. The project is certainly bold, as the field of self-driving vehicles is advancing from one day to the next, but there are still many uncertainties in the field.

Volvo plans to eliminate all the loose ends out of autonomous cars before they get in the hands of the Swedish “Joe.” The testing phase has the role of discovering how families get along with systems like these, and what could be improved on the production version of self-driving cars before they reach the market.

The changes suggested might be minute, or they could reshape the whole project, but nobody knows what customers will think about living with a self-driving car until it happens.

Volvo has imagined this project to provide the world with safer cars and safer roads. The introduction of autonomous driving technology is considered by Volvo as one of the key factors to reduce car accidents on public streets. It could also be used to clear congestion, reduce pollution, and allow a better user of a driver’s time.

The closest thing to autonomous cars offered in the current Volvo range is called Pilot Assist. It is offered on the 90-series models, which include XC90, S90, and V90. With the system activated, a car can keep itself within lane markings at speeds of up to 130 km/h without the need for a car in front of it.

Individual zones around Gothenburg come with “hands-off and feet-off” capability for these cars, which will allow drivers to let cars drive themselves while they watch as passengers that sit behind the wheel. The zones are controlled by what Volvo calls the “Autonomous Driving Brain,” a term for a complex infrastructure designed by the Swedes.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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