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Q3
Aussie Bosch engineers come up with parts giant’s most advanced automated vehicle
By Ian Porter
GoAuto News Premium
Victorian
minister
for road
safety Luke
Donnellan said
the adoption
of automated
vehicles would
be a big
step towards
achieving the
TAC’s goal
of eliminating
road fatalities
by 2055.
Following on from
the article on what
Australian drivers think of
autonomous vehicles, we
now look at one example
of how the technology
is becoming a reality
on Australian roads,
courtesy of GoAuto News.
Working together with
the Transport Accident
Commission (TAC), the
Victorian government and
VicRoads, Bosch recently
unveiled an autonomous
vehicle built in Victoria.
E
ngineers at German parts
giant Bosch’s Clayton technical
centre east of Melbourne
have developed a highly advanced
automated car – billed as the first
of its kind in this country – in a bid
to keep Australia at the forefront
of the emerging vehicle
technology.
Based on the Tesla Model S
electric-powered luxury sedan,
the rolling technology showcase
was developed with $1.2 million
assistance from the Victorian
government and was first
demonstrated on a closed course
at Melbourne’s Formula One Grand
Prix track at Albert Park on the eve
of the recent Intelligent Transport
Systems (ITS) World Congress.
Source: http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/DC04DFB459CDB169CA258045001090A9
Unveiling the car, Bosch Australia
president Gavin Smith said it was
the fifth autonomous vehicle built
within the global Bosch Group
– and the most advanced – and
that the project may have secured
Australia a role in the ongoing
development of automated
systems for incorporation into
production cars.
Through the Transport Accident
Commission (TAC), the Victorian
government contributed $1.2
million toward development costs,
with VicRoads also playing a key
role in the project.
“This project has been enabled
and facilitated by the Bosch
group in co-operation with the
Victorian government, the TAC
and VicRoads – without that cooperation, it may not have been
possible,” Mr Smith said.
“Having done this, we are now
very confident we will continue
to invest and we will see the
technology further developed here
in Australia.”
“The capability that existed
here and had been built up over
those decades, we now protect
by developing new technology
that allows us to be involved in
global projects for customers in all
corners of the world.”
Behind the wheel of Victoria’s first locally developed autonomous vehicle
Victorian minister for road safety
Luke Donnellan said the adoption
of automated vehicles would be
a big step towards achieving the
TAC’s goal of eliminating road
fatalities by 2055.
“This is a very important day for
Victoria in terms of where our
future lies,” he said.
“For me as road safety minister,
it’s about how we can get the lives
lost on our roads down to zero.
That’s a big challenge we need
to do together, whether through
the infrastructure, technology or
through changing behaviour.
“Bosch can develop these
technologies but they need to
work in a partnership with the TAC
and the state government so we
can develop protocols so these cars
can run safely on our roads and so
that those people who are driving
(conventional cars) can interact
safely with driverless vehicles.
“That will be a challenge for the
state government over the next 10
years, as to how we develop the
rules, regulations and the like to
ensure we encourage innovation
but in a very safe way.”
It is not currently legal to operate
an automated car on Victorian
roads. Acting VicRoads chief
executive Peter Todd told GoAuto
that the organisation – as the
roads and traffic authority in the
state – was vitally involved in the
project so it could keep abreast
of developments and understand
the challenges that will come with
automated vehicles. >
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