Skip to main content

Delphi to launch first coast-to-coast automated drive

UK automotive company Delphi Automotive will demonstrate the full capabilities of its active safety technologies with the longest automated drive ever attempted in North America. The coast-to-coast trip will launch near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on 22 March and will cover approximately 3,500 miles, finishing in New York. The journey will allow Delphi engineers to gather critical data and further advance the company’s active safety technology development in this rapidly growing segment of the a
March 17, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Delphi automated drive
UK automotive company Delphi Automotive will demonstrate the full capabilities of its active safety technologies with the longest automated drive ever attempted in North America. The coast-to-coast trip will launch near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on 22 March and will cover approximately 3,500 miles, finishing in New York.

The journey will allow Delphi engineers to gather critical data and further advance the company’s active safety technology development in this rapidly growing segment of the auto industry. During the cross-country trek, the vehicle will be challenged under a variety of driving conditions from changing weather and terrain to potential road hazards -- things that could never truly be tested in a lab.

Recently demonstrated on the streets of Las Vegas at CES 2015, Delphi’s automated driving vehicle leverages a full suite of technologies and features to make this trip possible, including radar, vision and advanced drive assistance systems (ADAS). A high-end microprocessor seamlessly drives multiple features and functions, while wireless vehicle communication technology extends the range of existing ADAS functionality. Intelligent software such as traffic jam assist, automated highway pilot with lane change (on-ramp to off-ramp highway pilot), automated urban pilot and automated parking and valet, enables the vehicle to make complex, human-like decisions for real-world automated driving.

“Delphi had great success testing its car in California and on the streets of Las Vegas,” said Jeff Owens, Delphi’s chief technology officer. “Now it’s time to put our vehicle to the ultimate test by broadening the range of driving conditions. This drive will help us collect invaluable data in our quest to deliver the best automotive grade technologies on the market.”    

Delphi’s active safety technologies enable the vehicle to instantaneously make complex decisions, like stopping and then proceeding at a four-way stop, timing a highway merge or calculating the safest manoeuvre around a cyclist on a city street. Many of these driving scenarios have been a limitation for much of the current technology on the market today.

Related Content

  • FIA launches road safety initiative: #ParkYourPhone when on the road
    September 28, 2017
    European MEP Dieter Liebrech Koch, FIA Region I and its member Clubs are launching #ParkYourPhone, a campaign to encourage responsible smartphone use in traffic. The campaign will be rolled out across Europe the Middle East and Africa by FIA Clubs in autumn 2017. MEP Koch said that while Europe has done much to improve safety, be it on technical improvements of the vehicles, better training for road users or infrastructure, new technologies, such as smart phones and tablets, bring about new challenges.
  • 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.
  • PTV simulates York’s future
    August 26, 2021
    PTV’s predictive software modelling is helping one of England’s historic cities to improve traffic flow
  • Automatic signal control to prevent emergency vehicle collisions?
    March 14, 2012
    Field trials under way in Arizona promise eradication of accidents between emergency vehicles at intersections – as part of a national focus on ‘intelligent signal’ infrastructure. Collisions between police cars, ambulances and fire crews as they reach intersections at the same time, with equal priority given by all signals set on red, are as serious as they sound absurd. For emergency teams and those in need of their help, the consequences are dire. The solution could come from application of connected veh