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

  • Making all vehicles autonomous could reduce traffic accidents, says report
    February 16, 2016
    The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles could bring billions of pounds to the UK economy and save hundreds of lives, according to a new report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which is calling for urgent Government and industry action to encourage the greater use of autonomous and driverless vehicles. It also calls for urgent resolution of legislative, technological and insurance issues to help encourage the rollout of autonomous or driverless vehicles. Philippa Oldham, head of transpor
  • Toyota makes the case for V2V communication systems
    June 20, 2014
    Testifying on the future of surface transportation before the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Toyota vice president Kristen Tabar, from the Toyota Technical Centre said Toyota is leading the way to ensure the next generation of vehicle communication brings the highest levels of safety, quality, and convenience to consumers. As cars become more connected to each other and the world around them, a new set of benefits and challenges have emerged.
  • TRB 2024 challenge spurs smart transportation innovation
    January 24, 2024
    The Center for Urban Informatics and Progress at UTC, Amazon Web Services, the National Science Foundation, the City of Chattanooga and ITS America sponsored the Transportation Forecasting Competition at TRB 2024: and the challenge threw up some fascinating projects
  • San Diego: Let there be (street)light
    March 30, 2020
    The influence of intelligent streetlights is spreading. David Crawford finds that San Diego’s deployment – and attendant legislation – may offer a blueprint for other cities going forward