Swedish premium automaker Volvo will be collaborating with ride-sharing service Uber to research and develop self-driving vehicles, synchronising efforts that both companies have been pursuing separately for collective gain.
Volvo has been hard at work developing self-driving technology of the caliber that would not even require a driver to intervene with eventual plans to remove even the need for one at any point during a journey. They’re so confident of their eventual end product that they’re happy to compensate an owner or any party should something go wrong.
Uber, too, in its own way are investing their R&D cash toward a better understanding of how to tackle driver-less transportation. But without the resources and access to a supply of vehicles to actually apply the know-how gained, their capacity to expand has been rather limited, which then makes the Volvo partnership so valuable to them especially.
Volvo will manufacture what’s called ‘base vehicles’, equipped with the requisite array of sensors and cameras, for Uber to test their intelligent driving software with. Uber, in turn, will supply their findings and share technology with Volvo.
No all that much is known about which exact vehicles will be used as these test beds other than the fact that the cars will be using Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform. That’s rather vague since all models in the near-term future will be using it - the current XC90, S90, and V90 share common underpinnings. The specifications for the vehicles, too, are left unknown for the time being.
Volvo, with Uber as a partner, will also begin trials of self-driving cars offering free rides to Uber users in the Pittsburgh area this month. This fleet, comprising of XC90 SUVs, will be equipped with an array of LIDAR sensors and other hardware to navigate the streets of the American city.
The automaker had already undertaken similar trials of self-driving vehicles, operating in Gothenburg (Sweden) and some cities in China.
Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars, said: “Volvo is one of the most progressive and contemporary car makers in the world. It is a world leader in the development of active safety and autonomous drive technology, and possesses an unrivalled safety credibility. We are very proud to be the partner of choice for Uber, one of the world’s leading technology companies. This alliance places Volvo at the heart of the current technological revolution in the automotive industry.”
Once this technology matures and is used widely, it can have a dramatic effect when working in conjunction with ride sharing - reducing the number of vehicles in heavily congested urban areas and providing a reliable and direct transportation option to people who do not own or use a car.
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