Eastlink trials of automated vehicle technologies ‘have delivered real results’

Trials in Australia to determine the compatibility of the latest automated vehicle technologies with EastLink have been steadily progressing throughout this year. The trials are being undertaken by EastLink in partnership with VicRoads, the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB), La Trobe University and RACV, with the assistance of major vehicle manufacturers. With autonomous driving on EastLink and other suitable freeways expected within the next few years (subject to legislative changes), Eastlink says the
August 23, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Trials in Australia to determine the compatibility of the latest automated vehicle technologies with EastLink have been steadily progressing throughout this year.

The trials are being undertaken by EastLink in partnership with 4728 VicRoads, the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB), La Trobe University and RACV, with the assistance of major vehicle manufacturers.

With autonomous driving on EastLink and other suitable freeways expected within the next few years (subject to legislative changes), Eastlink says the trials have produced real results for freeway operators and vehicle manufacturers to facilitate the safe and early introduction of this capability on EastLink and other Victorian freeways.

EastLink trials have already been conducted with the latest Level.2 vehicles provided by the widest range of manufacturers for a trials program of this type, including 1731 BMW, 1683 Honda, 1844 Mazda, 1685 Mercedes, 4962 Mitsubishi and 609 Volvo. The most recent technology demonstration to be completed involved a vehicle provided by 8534 Tesla. This week, a vehicle provided by 4349 Lexus has commenced trials on EastLink. In addition, 2125 Audi and 1686 Toyota will soon be providing vehicles to assist with the trials program.

Vehicle manufacturers and freeway operators are now able to work on taking advantage of these opportunities to further improve the performance of the latest Level.2 automated vehicle technologies, which will pave the way for Level.3 hands-off-the-wheel driving on EastLink and other suitable freeways, subject to legislative changes.

With Level 3 autonomous driving on the way, Eastlink envisages that freeway operators will need to communicate directly to autonomous vehicles, for example to communicate a change in conditions or operating environment (e.g. emergency incident, congestion event, or lane/tunnel/bridge/freeway closure).

As part of the trials, connected vehicle transceivers are now being installed at three of EastLink’s tolling gantries, to create a section of road enabled for vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communications.

Initial testing has been focused on verifying the compatibility of connected vehicle communications (5.9 GHz) with the existing DSRC tolling tag communications (5.8 GHz).

The trials program will next conduct on-road tests of different message types using suitably equipped connected vehicles.

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS America, automakers call on FCC to protect the safety spectrum
    July 11, 2016
    ITS America, along with automakers and intelligent transportation organisations, has filed comments with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging the FCC to focus on safety first when considering changing the rules of the 5.9 GHz Safety Spectrum band. The 5.9 GHz Safety Spectrum was allocated by the FCC in 1999 for the purpose of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) designed to bring safety benefits for consumers. The FCC is considering a proposal to reconfigure the 5.9 GHz band that w
    Read More
  • Roadside infrastructure key to in-vehicle deployment
    November 28, 2013
    The implementation of in-vehicle systems will require multilateral cooperation, as Honda’s Sue Bai explains to Colin Sowman. Vehicle manufacturers will shape the future direction of in-vehicle ITS systems, but they can’t do it on their own. So to find out what they see on the horizon, and the obstacles they face, ITS International spoke to Sue Bai, principal engineer in the Automobile Technology Research Department with Honda R&D Americas. Not only does she play an important role in Honda’s US-based ITS
    Read More
  • In-vehicle communication systems offer major safety benefits
    July 17, 2012
    Michael Schagrin and Raymond Resendes provide an update on the US Department of Transportation's vehicle-to-vehicle programme. The US Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Vehicle-to- Vehicle (V2V) programme, which is concerned with wireless inter-vehicle communications for safety applications such as crash avoidance/mitigation, is a major safety component of the USDOT IntelliDrive cooperative infrastructure programme.
    Read More
  • Continental and BMW Group partner on automated driving
    February 27, 2013
    German automotive supplier Continental and BMW Group are pooling their development capacities to define the long-term prerequisites for series introduction of highly automated driving on European freeways. The two companies have signed an agreement to jointly develop an electronic co-pilot for this purpose, with the aim of paving the way to automated driving functions beyond the year 2020. “Automated driving is a key element in future mobility. It will significantly enhance safety, comfort and efficiency on
    Read More

Highlighted Content