Australia’s very first self-driving car ready for the road this week
The car still needs someone behind the wheel, but it is designed to navigate roads with or without driver input.
ABC News: James Hancock
The very first self-driving car developed in Australia was unveiled in Victoria on Wednesday.
Key points:
- The Victorian Government has invested $1.Two million in the project
- The car was built over nine months by forty five people
- The car is not driverless as it still needs someone behind the wheel, but it is designed to navigate roads with or without driver input
German multinational Bosch developed the vehicle at its Australian plant in a joint venture with the Victorian Government, which has invested $1.Two million in the project.
Self-driving cars have been lauded by many as a way to reduce road trauma, road rage, and congestion.
Bosch worked on the project with the Transport Accident Commission [TAC] and VicRoads.
Victorian Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the project was a step towards reducing deaths on the state’s roads.
“For the TAC, this is a very significant exercise in terms of road safety, of how we can develop both vehicles and technology and the infrastructure on our roads,” he said.
Using the shell of a Tesla with Bosch components, the manufacturers say the car is ten years ahead of other self-driving vehicles on the market.
Bosch president Gavin Smith said the car itself was one of only five worldwide built by the Bosch group.
“The car itself is very complicated [and] technically very advanced.”
Built over nine months by a team of forty five people, the car is not driverless as it still needs someone behind the wheel.
But it is designed to navigate roads with or without driver input.
The car’s key features
- Not truly driverless, but designed to navigate roads with or without driver input
- Automatic driver detection, and configuration of driver preferences (eg seat position, steering wheel configuration)
- Inbuilt sensors to detect and avoid outward hazards
- Six radars
- Six LIDARS (light detection and range sensors)
- High-res GPS
- 2km of extra copper wiring
- Stereo movie camera
- Internal driver-monitoring cameras
“This one, however, is the most advanced, incorporating some very sophisticated human machine interface, which permits the car to detect which driver is in the passenger seat and switch the configuration of it to suit that driver and their preferences.”
‘Computer power would most likely put a spaceship on the moon’
The car’s key features include inbuilt sensors to detect and avoid hazards such as pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles.
“We have developed this vehicle to what we would describe as level four very autonomous state, which is just before you get to a driverless car,” Mr Smith said.
“The function within incorporates sixty extra components, six radars, six LIDARs, high resolution GPS, and a stereo movie camera.
“It has an extra two kilometres of copper wire running through the vehicle. It has more than thirteen networks.
“The computer power would very likely put a spaceship on the moon.”
Audio Three:51 Listen to Tim Lamacraft’s report
The car operates with cameras that build a accomplish picture of what is on and around the road.
Inwards the car, cameras monitor the driver for errors such as weariness or sleep.
Victorian Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the car’s development was an significant exercise in how self-driving technology could improve safety on the state’s roads.
“These trials are significant for VicRoads to identify how driverless vehicles are going to interact with the infrastructure in our local community, with the infrastructure in traffic lights.”
Bosch president Gavin Smith said some Victorians may be able to test the car over the next few days.
“It will be on the roads over the following week, and we look forward to experiencing it with hundreds of extra drivers or passengers, so they too can understand what these cars are capable of,” he said.