What’s claimed to be the first self-driving car developed in Australia has been unveiled in Victoria, and this weekend will take to the road around Melbourne’s Albert Park Lake – best known as the course for the Australian Grand Prix – for initial testing.
German multinational Bosch developed the vehicle at its Clayton plant in a joint venture with the Victorian Government’s Transport Accident Commission [TAC] and VicRoads. The Victorian Government has invested an estimated $1.2 million in the project.
The Government will report on the Albert Park trials next week at a global Intelligent Transport Systems conference hosted in Melbourne.
The car is one of five built worldwide by the Bosch group. It uses the shell of a Tesla electric car with Bosch components, and – unlike some fully driverless cars – does need a the presence of a driver able to take over.
Bosch president Gavin Smith said the Australian version is the most advanced, incorporating a sophisticated human machine interface which allows the car to detect which driver is in the passenger seat and change the configuration to suit that driver and his or her preferences.
Key features are said to include a range of sensors that can detect and avoid hazards such as pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles.
Sixty added components include six radars, six LIDARs (Light-Detection and Ranging) devices, as well as high-resolution GPS, and a stereo video camera. Some two kilometres of copper wire run through the vehicle, carrying various signals via more than 13 networks.
Internal cameras monitor the driver for errors such as fatigue or sleep.
