Skip to main content

Finland working on autonomous trucks

As part of the European DESERVE project, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Iveco Finland and TTS-Kehitys are developing a new software platform which will bring autonomous driving features to trucks. The truck of the future will sense nearby obstacles and possible safety risks and inform the driver. The vehicle will also monitor driving behaviour and draw the driver's attention to possible hazardous situations. TTS is implementing and testing the safety equipment development platform. A driver mo
June 19, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
As part of the European DESERVE project, 814 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Iveco Finland and TTS-Kehitys are developing a new software platform which will bring autonomous driving features to trucks. The truck of the future will sense nearby obstacles and possible safety risks and inform the driver. The vehicle will also monitor driving behaviour and draw the driver's attention to possible hazardous situations.

TTS is implementing and testing the safety equipment development platform. A driver monitoring functionality developed by VTT based on eye tracking is also utilised. TTS will that the test results correspond to what would happen on real roads and can be applied in practice.

Iveco Finland provided a truck, with a very highly developed camera system, for the project. This is being complemented with a 360-degree camera system, three 3D cameras, nine short-range radars and three in-vehicle cameras. With these, the driver can obtain real-time information on obstacles and possible safety risks around the car. In addition, the in-vehicle cameras monitor the driver's attentiveness and driving behaviour.

The project, which began in 2012, will end in February 2016 and the first versions of the systems should be ready for installation in vehicles within two years.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cost Benefit: There’s still life in the RSU
    May 24, 2021
    A mixture of mobile and static roadside units may be what’s required to fulfil the needs of connected vehicle communications
  • Preparing for connected vehicle technology challenge
    December 14, 2012
    A decision on mandating connected vehicle technology is expected in 2013, when associated political issues such as privacy are likely to come to the fore. Pete Goldin investigates industry’s preparations for the challenge. Once in a while new technology comes along with the power to revolutionise the way we live our lives. Connected vehicle technology could be such a game changer. If mandated in the United States, it could quickly become the status quo for transportation in the US, and such a disruptive cha
  • Indra leads European autonomous driving project
    November 17, 2016
    Spain-based consulting and technology company Indra is leading a project that will test autonomous driving on European roads, mainly in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon, Madrid and Paris. These are the three largest cities in the Atlantic Core Network Corridor, which comprises roads that are regarded as priorities for developing Europe's transport infrastructure. Spain's Traffic Department, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Portugal's National Road Safety Authority, the University of Coimbra, the Ped
  • Terrestrial solution to stellar shortcomings
    December 5, 2013
    Inherent weaknesses in satellite communications are leading several countries to re-evaluate terrestrial-based backup systems. There is a tale frequently told in satellite navigation circles, of how landing systems at Newark Airport were disrupted by a truck driver using GPS jamming equipment as he drove along the New Jersey Turnpike. While there was no threat to flight safety as the interference to GPS reference stations being tested, the story highlights how apparently benign threats have the potential t