The development of self-driving vehicles continues to accelerate faster and faster. following up on announced plans last year, Volvo has become the latest manufacturer to being public road testing with actual vehicles. They plan to eventually have a fleet of 100 text cars on the roads around their headquarters in Sweden. Volvo has branded this phase of their testing "Drive Me". Federal and local government agencies are cooperating on the project. Right now drivers are getting behind the steering wheels of semi-autonomous vehicles that are traveling on 31 miles of roads round Gothenburg, Sweden. "The test cars are now able to handle lane following, speed adaption and merging traffic all by themselves," said Erik Coelingh, a technical specialist at Volvo. "This is an important step towards our aim that the final 'Drive Me' cars will be able to drive the whole test route in highly autonomous mode. The technology, which will be called Autopilot, enables the driver to hand over the driving to the vehicle, which takes care of all driving functions." "This public pilot will provide us with a valuable insight into the societal benefits of making
autonomous vehicles a natural part of the traffic environment," says Coelingh. "Our smart vehicles are a key part of the solution, but a broad societal approach is vital to offer sustainable personal mobility in the future. This unique cross-functional cooperation is the key to a successful implementation of self-driving vehicles." How do you feel about this subject? Are you ready to give up control of your morning commute to your car while you do other things? Let us know in the comments! Source:
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