TMR tests automated vehicle technology

As the speed of change in technology brings us closer to having cooperative and highly automated cars available to consumers, the department recently demonstrated the first connected and highly automated car to be used in Queensland on public roads. This technology has the potential to significantly reduce crashes and road trauma for Queenslanders in our journey towards zero road deaths and serious injuries.

Driving approximately 6km through suburban traffic and streets in Shailer Park, it successfully navigated, in automated mode under strict supervision, through roundabouts and intersections, travelling up to 50km/hr.

The vehicle arrived in Brisbane in June and is being used to test on and off-road conditions, including assessing road network readiness for cooperative and automated vehicles, driver behaviour when transitioning between automated and manual modes, and the vehicle technology performance under Queensland conditions.

The vehicle, affectionately known as ZOE2, is classified as a Level 4 automated vehicle by the Society of Automotive Engineers Levels of Automation. This means it is capable of self-driving in defined areas with the driver able to take back manual control. Purpose built by French research consortium VEDECOM, using a standard Renault ZOE electric vehicle as its base, the research prototype is packed with high-tech sensors, LIDAR, cameras, computers and software. The vehicle was specially built for the department’s Cooperative and Highly Automated Driving (CHAD) Pilot.

The CHAD Pilot is supported by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre and QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q), with insurance underwritten by Suncorp.