Skip to main content

Continental, Magna International to conduct real-world test of driverless vehicles

Two automated driving vehicles will travel more than 300 miles before arriving in Traverse City, Michigan, US as part of an international border demonstration by Continental and Magna International. The demonstration will start in southeast Michigan and finish at the Center for Automotive Research’s annual Management Briefing Seminars. The vehicles will cross into Windsor, Ontario before going north to Sarnia, Ontario and return back into Michigan. The demonstration drive allows Continental and Magna, as we
August 1, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Two automated driving vehicles will travel more than 300 miles before arriving in Traverse City, Michigan, US as part of an international border demonstration by 260 Continental and 5026 Magna International. The demonstration will start in southeast Michigan and finish at the Center for Automotive Research’s annual Management Briefing Seminars.


The vehicles will cross into Windsor, Ontario before going north to Sarnia, Ontario and return back into Michigan. The demonstration drive allows Continental and Magna, as well as the 1688 Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), to test automated driving technology in a variety of settings.

Using Continental’s Cruising Chauffeur function, the vehicles will be able to take over driving tasks on various roads in accordance with traffic regulations. Once Cruising Chauffeur is activated, data analysed in the Assisted and Automated Driving Control Unit (ADCU) central control unit is used to generate a 360-degree model of the vehicle’s surroundings. In combination with a high-resolution map, the system recognises all moving and static objects, as well as the layout of the road ahead.

The drive aims to demonstrate how the vehicles’ multiple camera, radar and LiDAR sensors will interact while being driven through the concrete Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and across the steel Blue Water Bridge.

To mark the event as the latest example of partnerships in the Great Lakes region, MDOT and OMT will sign a memorandum of understanding at the drive’s completion to further promote and foster growth of connected and autonomous technology testing and deployment, supporting both Michigan and Ontario’s economic interests and technological advancements by enabling job-creating growth for both jurisdictions.

Related Content

  • July 5, 2019
    Continental offers right-turn assist for cars
    Continental has released a short-range radar which it says offers a right-turn assist function for passenger cars to help protect cyclists and pedestrians. It intervenes if the driver wants to turn right when a cyclist is about to pass along the right-hand side of the vehicle. If the radar sensors detect a cyclist, they transmit a signal to the brakes to stop the car, the company adds. According to Continental, the radar generation operates using 77GHz technology, allowing the radar sensor to detect
  • December 16, 2015
    Continental demonstrates its electronic horizon technology
    Continental is to show its electronic horizon (eHorizon) technology at CES on 6-9 January 2016 on public roads in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company will demonstrate with two use cases based on the latest generation of the technology, the dynamic eHorizon, how data from the cloud can predict the road ahead, ultimately reducing fuel consumption and making vehicles safer. Continental has used the static eHorizon in commercial vehicle market since 2012 and says it has demonstrated that this technology, which u
  • June 25, 2015
    Continental developing road departure protection systems
    International automotive supplier Continental is working on new road departure protection systems that aim to eliminate unintended road departures, which currently are not completely covered by today’s lateral guidance advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), preventing fatal accidents from occurring on highways and rural roads. According to the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, approximately 55 per cent of traffic fatalities in the US involve a vehicle crossing the roadwa
  • July 21, 2015
    Mcity test centre for connected and driverless vehicles now open
    The University of Michigan has opened Mcity, the world's first controlled environment specifically designed to test the potential of connected and automated vehicle technologies that will lead the way to mass-market driverless cars. Mcity was designed and developed by U-M's interdisciplinary MTC, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). The 32-acre simulated urban and suburban environment includes a network of roads with intersections, traffic signs and signals, streetligh