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

  • Sensor solutions cuts maintenance and emissions
    December 8, 2014
    The new raft of sensor technology can provide cost savings as well as additional functionality, as David Crawford discovers. Austria’s third-largest city, Linz, with a population of around 200,000, is recording substantial savings in its urban tram network within 18 months of introducing a new, high-technology approach to its public transport management. Tram, bus and trolleybus operator Linz Linien forms part of city utilities management company Linz AG, which has been carrying out a wide-ranging Smart Cit
    Read More
  • Asecap Days 2023: Data drives the best decisions
    December 22, 2023
    Almost all the data being collected by highway operators is going to waste. But if firms collect and analyse these ‘vast lakes of data’ they can investigate threats, monitor management systems and drive up revenues, delegates were told at Asecap Days 2023. Geoff Hadwick reports
    Read More
  • One eye on the future
    December 12, 2013
    Mobileye’s Itay Gat discusses the evolution of monocular solutions for assisted and autonomous driving with Jason Barnes. Founded in 1999, Israeli company Mobileye manufactures and supplies advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) based on its EyeQ family of systems-on-chips for image processing for solutions such as lane sensing, traffic sign recognition, vehicle and pedestrian detection. Its products are used by both the OEM and aftermarket sectors. The company’s visual interpretation algorithms drive
    Read More
  • Data collection becoming a crowded market
    October 26, 2017
    New ways of gathering data can revolutionise traffic and travel management, so is the writing on the wall for the traditional methods? Jon Masters reports. There are two big industries that stand to be revolutionised by massive increases in data – healthcare and transportation, says Finlay Clarke, the UK managing director of the smartphone sat nav traffic app, Waze. “At present we’re really only at the start of how cities, in particular, will be transformed,” he says.
    Read More

Highlighted Content