Skip to main content

Cognitive Technologies to develop autonomous tram in Russia

Cognitive Technologies has joined forces with Russian manufacturer PC Transport Systems to deploy an autonomous tram on the streets of Moscow by 2022. Cognitive says that its simplified system means autonomous trams will appear on public roads much earlier than self-driving cars. The company claims its system will detect vehicle and other trams, traffic lights, pedestrians, tram and bus stops, railway and switches and obstacles. Also, the technology will allow the tram to stop in front of obstacles a
February 14, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Cognitive Technologies has joined forces with Russian manufacturer PC Transport Systems to deploy an autonomous tram on the streets of Moscow by 2022.

Cognitive says that its simplified system means autonomous trams will appear on public roads much earlier than self-driving cars.
 
The company claims its system will detect vehicle and other trams, traffic lights, pedestrians, tram and bus stops, railway and switches and obstacles. Also, the technology will allow the tram to stop in front of obstacles and maintain a safe distance to the cars ahead, accelerate and stop.

The trams will feature a combination of sensors which include 20 video cameras and up to ten radars to help detect road scene objects at night as well as in rain, fog and snowy conditions.
 
Olga Uskova, president of Cognitive, says the company’s low-level data fusion technology allows the computer vision model to use the combined raw data coming from cameras and radars to provide a better understanding of the road scene.

“Cameras, for example, correctly recognise objects in 80% of cases, additional data from radar raises the detection accuracy to 99% and higher,” Uskova adds.

The trams will use GPS sensors and will use high-precision cartography along its route.

Initially, an intelligent control system will serve as an active driving assistant in dangerous situations. A second stage test will follow in which an operator will remain in the cabin as a backup driver.

During the next two months, autonomous tram tests with the operator in the cabin will take place in closed facilities which will then be followed by a trail in Moscow.

Related Content

  • Continental offers right-turn assist for cars
    July 5, 2019
    Continental has released a short-range radar which it says offers a right-turn assist function for passenger cars to help protect cyclists and pedestrians. It intervenes if the driver wants to turn right when a cyclist is about to pass along the right-hand side of the vehicle. If the radar sensors detect a cyclist, they transmit a signal to the brakes to stop the car, the company adds. According to Continental, the radar generation operates using 77GHz technology, allowing the radar sensor to detect
  • UK researchers developing 3D 'black box' technology for vehicles
    July 6, 2016
    UK-based Roke Manor Research (Roke) has developed what it says is the world's first viable 3D 'black box' technology for vehicles, using a single dashboard camera. Fitted to an autonomous Toyota Prius, Roke demonstrated how data captured via vision processing technology could be used to provide a precise 3D reconstruction following a road incident. It's set to offer insurers, drivers and, in the case of autonomous vehicles, manufacturer’s independent evidence of what happened. Roke believes this will not
  • The long road to Spanish enlightenment
    October 22, 2018
    Julián Núñez, immediate past president of ASECAP, gets his teeth into the vision of a European strategy for toll roads. David Arminas reports from Madrid. Getting European politicians to agree to a long-term cross-border highway infrastructure programme for toll roads is extremely difficult. It’s a bit like pulling teeth: people want to avoid the pain. But pain is something that Spanish operators, including Abertis, OHL, ACS, FCC and Acciona, have been going through for the past decade. The country has
  • RTA trials driverless shuttle across 1250m track in Dubai
    September 10, 2018
    Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is trialling a driverless shuttle across a 1250m track at entertainment complex Dubailand, on Al-Qudra Road. The initiative is intended to support the government’s plans to convert up to 25% of the country’s transport to autonomous by 2030. The RTA is testing the EasyMile EZ10 as part of the next phase of its driverless vehicle project, which follows three successful test runs in the area. EZ10 will travel at a speed of 20 km/h along short distances on