Volvo Cars developing kangaroo detection system

Volvo Cars is developing kangaroo detection technology to solve one of the most costly causes of traffic collisions in Australia. A team of Volvo Cars safety experts is in the Australian Capital Territory to film and study the roadside behaviour of kangaroos in their natural habitat. The data Volvo Cars collects will be used to develop the first ever kangaroo detection and collision avoidance system. According to the National Roads & Motorists’ Association (NRMA) there are over 20,000 kangaroo strikes on A
November 5, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
7192 Volvo Cars is developing kangaroo detection technology to solve one of the most costly causes of traffic collisions in Australia.  A team of Volvo Cars safety experts is in the Australian Capital Territory to film and study the roadside behaviour of kangaroos in their natural habitat. The data Volvo Cars collects will be used to develop the first ever kangaroo detection and collision avoidance system.

According to the National Roads & Motorists’ Association (NRMA) there are over 20,000 kangaroo strikes on Australian roads each year, costing over AU$75 million in insurance claims. The human cost of serious injuries and fatalities from animal collisions is incalculable.

To help address this Volvo Cars is developing a unique system that uses radar and camera technology to detect kangaroos and automatically apply the brakes if an accident is imminent.

The technology behind this research is an evolution of Volvo’s City Safety which detects cars, cyclists and pedestrians day and night.

A radar sensor in the grille scans the road ahead to detect moving objects, while a very advanced light-sensitive, high-resolution camera in the windscreen works in parallel with the radar to detect which way the object is moving and help the computer decide what action to take, if any.
 
When the object is detected, it takes 0.05 seconds for the computer system to react on the situation. This should be compared with the human reaction time of about 1.2 seconds.

“While Volvo Cars’ pedestrian detection technology is geared towards city driving, our kangaroo detection research is focusing on highway speed situations,” said Martin Magnusson, senior safety engineer at Volvo Cars. “Kangaroos are very unpredictable animals and difficult to avoid, but we are confident we can refine our technology to detect them and avoid collisions on the highway.

“In Sweden we have done research involving larger, slower moving animals like moose, reindeer and cows which are a serious threat on our roads. Kangaroos are smaller than these animals and their behaviour is more erratic. This is why it’s important that we test and calibrate our technology on real kangaroos in their natural environment.”

Location Based Systems Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Intersection collision avoidance system trial
    January 31, 2012
    Although much of the emphasis of research into intersection management has tended to concentrate on the needs of urban locations, there remain specific issues pertaining to rural intersections which need to be addressed. Here, Rebecca Szymkowski and Greg Helgeson, Wisconsin DOT, Todd Szymkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Craig Shankwitz and Arvind Menon, University of Minnesota detail progress on an intersection collision avoidance system for more remote locations.
    Read More
  • Nissan using anthropologist to develop proPILOT autonomous vehicle
    August 17, 2016
    Nissan is using an array of technical talent to develop its next generation autonomous vehicle, including automobile and software engineers, experts on sensor technology and artificial intelligence, computer scientists, production specialists an anthropologist. Melissa Cefkin, principal scientist and design anthropologist at the Nissan Research Center in Silicon Valley is playing a key role in the project, analysing human driving interactions to ensure that it is prepared to be a ‘good citizen’ on the ro
    Read More
  • Transit bus collision avoidance pilot launched in Washington State
    March 18, 2016
    Insurance group Munich Re, in collaboration with the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool (WSTIP), has launched a pilot program top equip transit buses with Mobileye Shield+ collision avoidance technology, installed by Rosco Vision Systems. For the pilot, 38 WSTIP transit buses have been equipped with the technology which claims to enable drivers to avoid and mitigate imminent collisions, protecting the most vulnerable and difficult to observe road users, cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists. Je
    Read More
  • Uber’s self-driving cars resume trials in Pittsburgh in manual mode
    July 27, 2018
    Uber’s self-driving cars are being manually driven on public roads in Pittsburgh after a fatal crash which prompted the company to pull out of its testing programme in North America. The company is trialling new safeguards which it says will improve vehicle fleet safety and performance. According to a report by Medium, Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies, says: “While we are eager to resume testing of our self-driving system, we see manual driving as an important first step in piloting thes
    Read More

Highlighted Content