Skip to main content

Consortium to trial autonomous shuttles at Australian university

A consortium including HMI Technologies, La Trobe University, Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV), Australian Road Research Group (ARRB) and Keolis Downer is to conduct a trial of autonomous vehicles in Victoria, Australia to explore the use of driverless shuttles in the context of a university’s student mobility requirements.
June 8, 2017 Read time: 1 min

A consortium including 8502 HMI Technologies, La Trobe University, Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV), Australian Road Research Group (ARRB) and 6546 Keolis Downer is to conduct a trial of autonomous vehicles in Victoria, Australia to explore the use of driverless shuttles in the context of a university’s student mobility requirements.

This is the first time such a project has been launched as a proof of concept to address first and last mile connectivity requirements.
 
The project, which has been partly funded through a US$283,000 (AU$375,000) Victorian Government Smarter Journeys Programme grant, will start in August 2017 and last for one year.

The project aims to explore, through a model deployment in real operating conditions, the use of autonomous vehicles to create a re-usable commercial framework to support development of the necessary regulation and/or legislation.

8502 HMI Technologies is supplying a French-built Navya 15-person shuttle for the trial. This vehicle is fully autonomous (level 4), has no steering wheel and is electrically powered.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • University of Auckland develops EV in-road charging
    September 22, 2017
    Researchers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, are developing new technology for in-road charging of electric vehicles (EVs). The project, which uses inductive power transfer technology, has recently received US$8.7 million ((NZ$12 million) government funding for the development of in-road pads which would charge EVs driving or parking over them.
  • Houston traffic technology ‘going global’
    December 17, 2012
    A real-time traffic data collection system developed by the Texas A&M University Transportation Institute (TTI) is going nationwide and could go global, according to the university. The development, known as AWAM (Anonymous Wireless Address Matching), uses the first portion of the MAC address from anonymous wireless devices, such as Bluetooth-enabled devices, carried in vehicles to measure the travel time between two points along freeways and arterial roads in rural and urban environments. It provides real-
  • Cooperative infrastructure systems waiting for the go ahead
    February 3, 2012
    Despite much research and technological promise, progress towards cooperative infrastructure system deployment is still slow. Here, Robert Cone and John Miles take a considered look at how and when it might come about. From a systems engineering viewpoint it looks logical and inevitable that vehicles should be communicating between themselves and with the road infrastructure. But seen from a business viewpoint the case is not proven.
  • Six businesses accelerate towards road safety trials in England
    September 3, 2024
    Hazard reduction is aim of safety tech competition from National Highways