VTT launches AV for snow and ice conditions, Finland

VTT Technical Research Centre (VTT) of Finland has launched what it claims to be the first autonomous car (AC) to have successfully driven on a real snow-covered road. It also reached speeds of up to 40 km/h during a trial on the Aurora E8 intelligent road in Muonio.
December 18, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
814 VTT Technical Research Centre (VTT) of Finland has launched what it claims to be the first autonomous car (AC) to have successfully driven on a real snow-covered road. It also reached speeds of up to 40 km/h during a trial on the Aurora E8 intelligent road in Muonio.


Called Martti and based on research from VTT’s AC Marilyn, the vehicle is equipped with cameras, antennas, sensors and three laser sensors that detect the environment ahead. By mid-January, it will also be equipped with communication modules which are designed with the intention of communicating with digital transport infrastructure.

To enhance the car’s capacity to function on slippery road surfaces, VTT will begin changing the wavelengths of the optical components, increasing the resolution of the radar, and building more intelligence into the sensors’ software.

Matti Kutila from VTT’s RobotCar Crew, said: “When in spring 2017 we, the researchers, taught the automated car Marilyn to drive, this autumn it has been teaching us on how to make Martti such that it can get along with its spouse, and follow GPS and positioning information on its route. Martti has been designed for demanding weather conditions and Marilyn shines as the queen of urban areas.

“We already have at our disposal an intelligent roadside unit, capable of feeding local information for the insatiable needs of Martti and Marilyn. This cart dubbed Marsu contains measuring devices for friction data and a communications module serving as a base station. Furthermore, next Spring one of our vehicles can also be spotted in forest environments, when Marilyn and Martti get a new friend capable of tackling all terrains,” Kutila added.

For more information on companies in this article

VTT

Related Content

  • Atlanta ponders Mobility as a Service for seamless transit
    June 29, 2018
    Drivers in Atlanta spent 70 hours in peak-time traffic jams last year. As the MaaS Market conference moves to the US’s fourth most congested city, we ask how Mobility as a Service can help. Colin Sowman winds down his window to listen. It is not by accident that ITS International’s first MaaS Market conference outside London is being hosted in Atlanta. The event is being supported by Georgia State Road & Tollway Authority and the City of Atlanta – and again not without a reason as metro Atlanta is looking
    Read More
  • Onssi and Vaxtor partner on license plate recognition integration
    February 12, 2018
    Vaxtor Corporation’s (Vaxtor) advanced LPR analytics platform can now be deployed across Onssi’s Ocularis VMS platform to recognize, capture and archive data on license plates, railway vehicles, U.S. Department of Transport (USDOT) numbers and more as part of an integration partnership between both companies. The agreement, according to Onssi’s Ken LaMarcam VP of sales & marketing, allows the solution to deliver a range of security and operations data to meet the specific challenges of the transportation
    Read More
  • HaCon launches MaaS app to tackle Luxembourg jams
    September 23, 2019
    Software company HaCon is working with the Luxembourg Transport Community to introduce a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app which it says is designed to reduce congestion. The Transport Community - a public institution which works for the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works - aims to raise awareness of sustainable mobility. By integrating park-and-ride areas as well as the carpooling provider CoPilote, the Transport Community is hoping the Mobiliteit.lu app will encourage commuters to switch to public tr
    Read More
  • Telematics standards need to evolve to keep up with technology
    July 30, 2012
    Scott Andrews and Scott McCormick take a look at how standards development for the telematics environment needs itself to evolve in order to stay abreast of technological advances. While the road has been somewhat arduous, telematics has evolved from a research activity to a resource for fleet operators, consumers and road management authorities.
    Read More

Highlighted Content