Scania leads European vehicle platooning research project

Scania will take the lead role in a three-year European research project to develop a system for implementing truck platooning on roads, which it is believed can significantly contribute towards reducing the carbon footprint of trucks. Through the European Companion research project, the partners will identify means of implementing the platooning concept in practice in daily transport operations. The project also includes Volkswagen Group Research, Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology, Oldenburger
December 12, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
570 Scania will take the lead role in a three-year European research project to develop a system for implementing truck platooning on roads, which it is believed can significantly contribute towards reducing the carbon footprint of trucks.

Through the European Companion research project, the partners will identify means of implementing the platooning concept in practice in daily transport operations. The project also includes 994 Volkswagen Group Research, Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology, Oldenburger Institut für Informatik, Germany, IDIADA Automotive Technology, Spain, Science Corporation, Netherlands and the Spanish haulage company Transportes Cerezuela.

Depending on the transport task, haulage companies will be able to identify the most favourable route with regard to fuel consumption. Through an integrated system, drivers will receive information on where they can join and leave platoons which will clearly describe available alternatives, taking into account such variables as weather conditions, the traffic situation and delivery schedules as well as the weight and speed of the truck combination.

“We hope that this project will increase awareness in Europe of the many advantages of platooning,” says Sven-Åke Edström, senior vice president, Truck, Cab and Bus Chassis Development. “Platooning will require standardised support systems as well as legislative action that will be clarified in this project.”

The project will also propose common EU regulations permitting shorter distances between trucks in the platoon. The shorter the distance, the greater the fuel saving that can be achieved. However, this would require vehicles to be interconnected through wireless communication systems.

With Spanish companies IDIADA and Transportes Cerezuela as partners, the aim is to test the entire system on Spanish roads during the autumn of 2016. “It’s also a major advantage at this early stage of the project to include future users and thereby benefit from customer feedback,” says project coordinator Magnus Adolfson, head of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services at Scania.
Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • March 16, 2016
    Observing driver behaviour in real traffic condition
    The EU’s UDRIVE project will investigate driver behaviour in terms of road safety and the decarbonisation of road transport, as Nicole van Nes and Silvia Curbelo explain. There were nearly 25,700 fatalities on European Union (EU) roads in 2014 or, to look it another way, roughly 70 people are killed in traffic accidents on European roads every day - and many more are injured. Around 22% of the fatalities are pedestrians, 15% will be motorcycle riders and 8% cyclists. So despite the improvements in road safe
    Read More
  • December 16, 2014
    Dynamic charging boosts electric vehicles’ potential
    With an increasing need to use electric vehicles in city centres to reduce pollution, David Crawford looks at various solutions to power delivery. The UN’s September 2014 Climate Summit has added fresh momentum to the drive to increase urban electric vehicle (EV) takeup. It has launched the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative, which wants to see EVs accounting for 30% of all urban travel by 2030, and make cities worldwide more friendly to their use. Encouragingly, the plan is being well supported by commerci
    Read More
  • June 20, 2016
    Tri-nation cooperation on C-ITS Corridor
    In the European C-ITS Corridor project, authorities from three countries are working with the automotive industry on the deployment of Cooperative (V2X) Systems. Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems/Services (C-ITS) has the potential to improve road safety, transport efficiency and environmentally friendly mobility, as well as creating additional services and new business models. A set of international standards have been developed to provide the technical basis for the deployment of Cooperative ITS.
    Read More
  • April 12, 2013
    Intelligent intersection control
    Intelligent intersection control systems have a growing role to play in making urban traffic more efficient. Robin Meczes reports. The idea of every traffic light turning green as you approach it has long been a dream for many an urban driver – and none more so than those driving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), which are slow and difficult to bring to a halt and then accelerate back to normal travel speed. But that dream has become a reality for some drivers in a small number of cities around Europe in the las
    Read More

Highlighted Content