Skip to main content

TÜV Rheinland and Southwest Research Institute sign MOU

Independent research and development organisation Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and testing and inspection services provider TÜV Rheinland Mobility have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop functional standards for the performance of autonomous driving on public roadways. Following the lead of Florida, California and Nevada, which have all developed regulations enabling autonomous driving, SwRI and TÜV Rheinland Mobility will collaborate to establish standards and performance metrics that w
January 15, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Independent research and development organisation Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and testing and inspection services provider TÜV Rheinland Mobility have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop functional standards for the performance of autonomous driving on public roadways.

Following the lead of Florida, California and Nevada, which have all developed regulations enabling autonomous driving, SwRI and 2236 TÜV Rheinland Mobility will collaborate to establish standards and performance metrics that will enable the three leading and other states to evaluate and regulate the efficacy of automated driving.  

Both organisations will build on their experiences in the automotive, military, standards development and certification industries to develop standards that the automated driving industry can apply to measure its success. Nevada has required that the industry build such standards in the near future, and more states are expected to follow.

With a long history in the automotive industry, including certification for the transportation industry,  homologation, quality testing, and connected vehicle assessment and testing, the SwRI and TÜV Rheinland Mobility team looks to work with the government and industry to define the criteria that will meet the states’ requirements for testing and acceptable performance metrics for automated driving.

“Our team realises that the action of the states to begin regulating automated driving portends a national trend of the state and international actions to regulate this emerging industry,” said Suzanne Murtha, TÜV Rheinland Mobility. “We look forward to helping the industry stay ahead of this trend and, possibly, even include some of the forthcoming standards into the regulatory language.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK government funds connected vehicle development with a Flourish
    February 5, 2016
    The UK government has selected the Flourish consortium as a winner of its multi-million pound research grant to fuel development in user-centric autonomous vehicle technology and connected transport systems. The new programme, co-funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, will focus on the core themes of connectivity, autonomy and customer interaction. The three-year project, led by Atkins and worth US$8 million, seeks to develop products and services that maximise the benefits of connected and
  • The role of GIS in climate change resiliency
    May 29, 2014
    Climate change will pose global and local challenges and that includes risks to the transportation infrastructure. Climate change adaptation and resiliency has captured the attention of the transportation community for some time now. Because transportation infrastructure is often designed to last for 30, 50, or 100 years or even longer, transportation professionals are concerned not only about the impact on our existing investments, but also how to design more durable transportation systems for the future
  • Texas DOT, institutes demonstrate wrong way driving alert system
    August 21, 2017
    In a joint partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) are researching wrong-way driving, reports the Houston Chronicle. Almost 240 wrong way crashes happen each year in the state, according to the TTI. More than half of those resulted in a fatality crash. Researchers said most of those crashes occur at night, with alcohol impairment often a factor. On freeways, the most common way for someone to drive t
  • Texas DOT, institutes demonstrate wrong way driving alert system
    August 21, 2017
    In a joint partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) are researching wrong-way driving, reports the Houston Chronicle. Almost 240 wrong way crashes happen each year in the state, according to the TTI. More than half of those resulted in a fatality crash. Researchers said most of those crashes occur at night, with alcohol impairment often a factor. On freeways, the most common way for someone to drive t