New test track vital to Volvo Group’s safety work
Obstacles that suddenly appear, city environments with congested traffic and multilane highways – both drivers and vehicles are put to the test at the new test track in Hällered.
“This is where we will be able to test the intelligent safety systems that we are currently developing, which will bring us closer to our goal of the Volvo Group’s products resulting in zero accidents,” said Torbjörn Holmström, the Group’s Chief Technology Officer.
It was announced today that the financing has been secured for the new testing facility in Hällered, adjacent to the test track that Volvo has been operating there for several years. The new facility is primarily for the testing of new traffic-safety solutions.
The focus is on active safety – technical solutions that assist the driver in avoiding accidents. Such systems are already in existence today, for example, antiskid systems, systems that maintain the distance from the vehicle in front and systems that detect vehicles in the blind spot – but this is only the beginning.
“The Volvo Group’s engineers are developing the next generation of intelligent systems to assist the driver,” said Torbjörn Holmström.
“This new technology is primarily based on vehicles being able to communicate with each other and the surroundings. The technology will help drivers to keep a check on other vehicles, traffic lights and road works, for example.”
However, as with all new technologies, extensive testing is required in sheltered environments before tests can be conducted in real traffic situations. The new testing facility in Hällered will comprise many of the traffic environments that are of interest to the Volvo Group.
It involves simulating such conditions as monotonous driving on national roads with the sudden appearance of obstacles, city environments with both vehicle and human dummies and multilane roads with many vehicles. In addition, long vehicle combinations can be subjected to highly demanding maneuvers – all for the purpose of developing even more effective protection against roll-over accidents.
“Volvo’s testing facility in Hällered lacks a number of these testing environments, which makes the new facility important to us,” said Torbjörn Holmström.
The new testing facility will be built and maintained by the company, Active Safety Test Area AB, ASTA, under the brand AstaZero. The ASTA company is owned by the Chalmers University of Technology and the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden. The Volvo Group and other companies in the vehicle industry will then pay for the time they utilize the testing facility.
“Cooperation of this type, between the public sector, research world and companies is becoming ever more important,” said Torbjörn Holmström. “With our combined resources, we will have the greatest possibility of finding solutions to problems in society today. Thanks to the new testing facility for active safety, we will be able to contribute to reducing the number of traffic accidents.”
The testing facility is expected to be completed in 2014.
May 30, 2012
Reporters who want more information, please contact Per-Martin Johansson, Volvo Group Trucks Technology, +46 31 322 52 00, per-martin.johansson@volvo.com
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The Volvo Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications and aerospace components. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 115,000 people, has production facilities in 20 countries and sells their products in more than 190 markets. In 2011 annual sales of the Volvo Group amounted to about SEK 310 billion. The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden. Volvo shares are listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com or www.volvogroup.mobi if you are using your mobile phone.
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