After belting up and departing, a few seconds later we make a short stop by the curb – since localisation is a major issue, we need centimetre-level accuracy, explains project manager Anne-Charlotte Nicoud, VEDECOM. Only when the light panel inside the car has changed from red to white – indicating that the GPS system has established this geometry, and that the car is ready to depart – can we set off again. And no, readers, it’s not possible to over-ride this function!
For safety reasons, as long as the panel is red the car will prevent the driver going into autonomous mode, reassures Ms Nicoud. Plus if it detects the slightest problem, the button for activating this mode is automatically blocked.
You have to approach this kind of vehicle from several angles, she expands. Firstly perception, with its 360º sensors; then location through its localisation systems; then supervision – on-board intelligence; and finally, connectivity – Car2X standardised system for vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure communications, plus 3G/4G, and Wi-Fi.
Given that the driver has his or her hands and eyes free, the ‘connected’ nature of this vehicle opens up previously unimaginable infortainment opportunities. These range from information on the area in question (e.g. events, exhibitions, and special offers) or targeted to meet the profile of the driver, to surfing the Web, checking emails, and even watching a video… all from the comfort of… the driving seat!
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
The founding members of Versailles-based VEDECOM, created in February 2014, are Cetim, ESIGELEC, ESTACA, IFPEN, IFSTTAR, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Safran, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), and Valeo. An ‘Institute for Energy Transition’, it receives an annual grant of €54 million to run 15 research programmes in the following fields: vehicle electrification; autonomous driving & connectivity; mobility & shared energy.
WHO WINS?
‘Autonomous vehicles (AVs) represent a major innovation for the automotive industry, but their potential impact with respect to timing, uptake, and penetration remains hazy,’ write Michele Bertoncello & Dominik Wee, McKinsey&Company, in ‘Ten ways autonomous driving could redefine the automotive world.’
Yet apart from creating a new market segment for car manufacturers to compensate falling sales elsewhere, what are the expected perks of AVs for the consumer, for society at large? Here Ms Nicoud has the answers: Better road safety because the car reacts quicker than a human. Plus it has a self diagnosis capability, which means if there is a problem it will automatically block the autonomous mode and, if necessary, drive to a safe space off road.
The technology is also being promoted on the back of its ‘mobility for all’ potential, e.g. for older people (note: ‘by 2025 more than 20% of Europeans will be 65 or over, with a particularly rapid increase in numbers of over-80s’) and those with disabilities.
Don’t forget that the connectivity of such a car can also enable benefits such as energy recuperation and sharing, as well as guaranteeing more efficient driving, adds Jean-Laurent Franchineau, director, eco-mobility programme, VEDECOM.
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Prior to the French energy transition law of August 18, 2015, it was forbidden to carry out trials of fully or partially autonomous vehicles on public roads in the Hexagon. Henceforth such experiments are now possible, subject to obtaining the necessary authorisations, of course.
VEDECOM’s prototype subsequently made its public debut in October 2015, on the outskirts of Bordeaux (7km route) during the World ITS Congress. However, as points out Fanny Didier, communications director, VEDECOM, this Versailles run is the first time in France such a prototype has been put to the test in a town centre, which, given the density of cars, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians, plus traffic lights and other infrastructure, represents a highly complex context.
The Versailles test route has been made available (through Communauté d’agglomération de Versailles Grand Parc, VGP, see below) to the Institute for two years, giving its researchers the time to further tweak their invention. It’s vital to run the car in real traffic conditions because you can never simulate or anticipate every possible situation, says Ms Nicoud. Problems encountered so far concern the localisation function – roadside trees and buildings blocking the GPS signals, plus badly parked or drawn-in trucks and buses – all of which complicate life for this fledgling vehicle.
For the moment, if the car detects anything in its path, it stops, explains Ms Nicoud. Meanwhile we are working on more sophisticated algorithms in order to better manage bypassing of its path. This is why it’s so good that the Versailles route will remain equipped and available to us for the next two years, she adds.
FUTURE MOBILITY HUB
An intercommunal structure, VGP oversees the economic and cultural development of 18 communes (townships) across a territory of over 11,000 hectares, with Versailles acting as the figurehead. Keen to develop this agglomeration into a ‘future mobility hub’, in December 2014 it signed a framework agreement with CEREMH, VEDECOM, UVSQ, and Air Liquide. We are hoping SNCF (French Railways) will join shortly, adds Thomas Bonhoure, director of land planning & economic development, VGP.
All these strategic partners share the same objectives, he tells Mobility, which are to develop mobility for all, provide concrete services for users, ensure the acceptability of solutions for inhabitants, i.e. air quality and noise, and structure the transport network across the whole of our territory, both rural and build-up. Another goal of this partnership is to work on parking, by using latest technologies to optmise the seek-and-find process – because traffic flow is seriously hampered by drivers searching for spaces, points out Mr Bonhoure.
THE ROAD AHEAD
In their vision of the ‘self-driving revolution,’ the authors of ‘Ten ways autonomous driving could redefine the automotive world’ see potential growth taking place in the following three ‘eras’:
- fully AVs being developed for consumers (up to 2020)
- consumers begin to adopt AVs (up to around 2035), and then
- AVs become the primary means of transport
The third era, they suggest, will deliver key benefits such as freeing up to 50 minutes a day for drivers; decreasing parking space by billions of square metres; reducing vehicle crashes by 90%, saving billions of dollars; and… accelerating the development of robots for consumer use.
Today the AV tends to be viewed as a potentially disruptive innovation. But given that disruption can swing both ways, it will be interesting to see just how much of a game changer, and for whom, such a ‘new mobility system’ will prove in the next few years…