Volvo Cars

Volvo Cars has partnered with the Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Statens Vegvesen, to begin a pilot project to share road friction information from individual cars in a cloud-based system.

The real-time information on slippery patches on the roads will warn vehicles nearby, while contributing to the efficient winter road maintenance.

Volvo Cars cooperative intelligent transport system project leader Erik Israelsson said: "The pilot is one of the first practical examples of the way communication between vehicles over the mobile network enables vehicles to ‘speak’ to each other and with the traffic environment.

"We have 50 test cars on the roads, and next winter the fleet will grow considerably. Our aim is to make the technology available for our customers within a few years."

Under the pilot project, the Volvo test car detects an icy or slippery road patch, and transmits the information to Volvo Cars’ database through the mobile phone network.

"The information could help to improve road safety further for all road users."

An instant warning will be sent to other vehicles that are approaching the slippery area, allowing drivers to take immediate action to avoid a critical situation.

The application in the vehicle will be designed to adapt the driver warning and will match the severity level based on the vehicle speed as well as the present road conditions.

The data will also be transmitted to the road administrator as a complement to existing measurement stations along the road to better plan and execute winter road maintenance.

"The information could help to improve road safety further for all road users. This could also reduce the use of salt when not needed and minimise the environmental impact."

Image: The Volvo test car detects an icy or slippery road patch, and transmits the information to Volvo Cars’ database through the mobile phone network. Photo: courtesy of Volvo Car Group.