Skip to main content

Cohda Wireless to trial AVs which can talk to each other in Australia

Cohda Wireless is to trial two autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Australia this month. The MKZ Sedans can communicate with traffic lights and each other – and the company also expects them to be able to detect pedestrians around blind corners. The initiative, approved by the South Australian government, will take place in Adelaide’s central business district on closed-off roads. Dr Paul Gray, chief executive officer of Cohda Wireless, told ABC that the technology is intended to reduce the chance of huma
October 15, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
6667 Cohda Wireless is to trial two autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Australia this month.


The MKZ Sedans can communicate with traffic lights and each other – and the company also expects them to be able to detect pedestrians around blind corners.

The initiative, approved by the South Australian government, will take place in Adelaide’s central business district on closed-off roads.

Dr Paul Gray, chief executive officer of Cohda Wireless, %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external told ABC false http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-05/driverless-cars-to-be-tested-in-adelaide/10341588 false false%> that the technology is intended to reduce the chance of human error.

"This is really the goal of autonomous vehicles, is to make the vehicle safer and really just reduce the number of people that are dying on the road anyway just due to human error,” Gray adds.

He says technology can also sense a car behind a parked truck or another car approaching over a crest or hill.

"Whilst these completely autonomous, sit-in-the-backseat cars may be a long way off in the future, there is some early stage autonomy being introduced into the market,” Gray concludes.

Related Content

  • December 19, 2018
    Elon Musk unveils Los Angeles tunnel plan
    Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, has opened the first tunnel in a planned network under Los Angeles to help ease congestion in the US city. The world’s media was invited this week to travel in the mile-long tunnel – built by Musk’s Boring Company under the Hawthorne district - in an electric Tesla vehicle. The trip was described as “almost a white knuckle ride” by the BBC: “A bumpy two-minute journey in a modified Model X through a concrete tunnel with a blue neon light in the ceiling.” A C
  • November 5, 2015
    ITS Australia awards shortlist announced
    ITS Australia has announced the shortlisted ITS Australia National Awards finalists for 2015. Winners will be announced at the Awards Presentation Night Dinner, to be held at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Keynote speaker for the event, Mr Tim Reardon, Secretary Transport for the New South Wales Government will highlight the digital transport advancements in the state. A record number of nominations were submitted for the prestigious Awards Program, which is a major initiative of private, government
  • November 16, 2016
    South Australia opens applications for fund to boost connected, autonomous car technology
    The South Australian Government is inviting applications for a three-year US$7.5 million (AU$10 million) Future Mobility Lab Fund to boost local testing, research and development of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. From today, companies, industry bodies, research institutions and other organisations are able to submit creative proposals which will accelerate the development and implementation of connected and autonomous vehicle technology, focused on three themes:. Autonomous vehicle te
  • May 13, 2016
    Australia’s laws are ‘not ready for driverless vehicles’
    Australia’s National Transport Commission (NTC) has released Regulatory Options for Automated Vehicles, a discussion paper that finds a number of legislative barriers to increasing vehicle automation. The paper proposes that there are barriers that need to be addressed as soon as possible to ensure clarity around the status of more automated vehicles on Australia’s roads and to support further trials. In the longer term other legislative barriers will need to be addressed to allow fully driverless vehic