SARTRE road train premiere on public roads

For the first time ever a road train comprising a Volvo XC60, a Volvo V60 and a Volvo S60 plus one truck automatically driving in convoy behind a lead vehicle has operated on a public motorway among other road users. The historic test in Spain was highly
successful.

Vehicle platoon tests in the SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project - a joint-venture between Ricardo UK Ltd, Applus+ Idiada, Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge Aachen (IKA), SP Technical Research Institute, Volvo Technology and Volvo Car Corporation - are making progress. One major step forward was taken last week on a motorway outside Barcelona - the first-ever test drive of a road train among other road users.

"We covered 200 km in one day and the test turned out well. We're really delighted," says Linda Wahlstrom, Project Manager for the SARTRE project at Volvo Car Corporation.

A road train consists of a lead vehicle driven by a professional driver followed by a number of vehicles. Building on Volvo Car Corporation's and Volvo Technology's already existing safety systems - including features such as cameras, radar and laser sensors - the vehicles monitor the lead vehicle and also other vehicles in their immediate vicinity. By adding in wireless communication, the vehicles in the platoon 'mimic' the lead vehicle using Ricardo autonomous control - accelerating, braking and turning in exactly the same way as the leader.

Improved driver environment - among much else
The project aims to deliver improved comfort for drivers, who can now spend their time doing other things while driving. They can work on their laptops, read a book or sit back and enjoy a relaxed lunch.

Naturally the project also aims to improve traffic safety, reduce environmental impact and - thanks to smooth speed control - cut the risk of traffic tailbacks.

One lead vehicle and four trailing vehicles - consisting of a Volvo S60, a Volvo V60 and a Volvo XC60 plus a truck - made up the historic road train in Spain.

"Driving among other road-users is a great milestone in our project. It was truly thrilling," says Linda Wahlstrom. The vehicles drove at 85 km an hour. The gap between each vehicle was just six metres. "During our trials on the test circuit we tried out gaps from five to fifteen metres," relates Linda Wahlstrom.

Quick acclimatisation
Sitting in a car just six metres behind another one while travelling at 85 km/h and relying totally on the technology may feel a bit scary. But the experiences gained so far indicate that people acclimatise very quickly.

The three-year SARTRE project has been under way since 2009. All told, the vehicles in the project have covered about 10,000 km. After the test on the public roads in Spain, the project is now entering a new phase with the focus on analysis of fuel consumption.

"We've learnt a whole lot during this period. People think that autonomous driving is science fiction, but the fact is that the technology is already here. From the purely conceptual viewpoint, it works fine and road train will be around in one form or another in the future," says Linda Wahlstrom.

"We've focused really hard on changing as little as possible in existing systems. Everything should function without any infrastructure changes to the roads or expensive additional components in the cars. Apart from the software developed as part of the project, it is really only the wireless network installed between the cars that set them apart from other cars available in showrooms today," she continues.

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