Location Based Systems

New research commissioned by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) has found the development of connected and autonomous vehicles will help generate 320,000 jobs in the UK, delivering huge benefits to society and the economy. In the first comprehensive analysis of the UK opportunities provided by this new technology, KPMG has found these new vehicles could deliver a US$81 billion boost to the UK economy and reduce serious road traffic accidents by more than 25,000 a year by 2030. To expl

As part of the European DESERVE project, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Iveco Finland and TTS-Kehitys are developing a new software platform which will bring autonomous driving features to trucks. The truck of the future will sense nearby obstacles and possible safety risks and inform the driver. The vehicle will also monitor driving behaviour and draw the driver's attention to possible hazardous situations. TTS is implementing and testing the safety equipment development platform. A driver mo

Electronics giant Samsung has developed a solution that may make the problem of overtaking a truck on a single lane road a thing of the past. Developed for Argentina, whose statistics on traffic accidents are among the highest in the world, with most of these accidents occurring on two-lane roads and particularly in situations of overtaking, the Safety Truck consists of a wireless camera attached to the front of the truck, which is connected to a video wall made out of four exterior monitors located on t

Jaguar Land Rover, part of the UK Autodrive consortium, has demonstrated a remote control Range Rover Sport research vehicle, showing how a driver could drive the vehicle from outside the car via their smartphone. The smartphone app includes control of steering, accelerator and brakes as well as changing from high and low range. This would allow the driver to walk alongside the car, at a maximum speed of 4mph, to manoeuvre their car out of challenging situations safely, or even to negotiate difficult off

IRD’s FleetSphere is a web-based GPS fleet management solution, which helps to optimise management and reduce fleet operating costs. Applications include all sizes of commercial fleet vehicles, including delivery trucks, service trucks, vans, and trailers, as well as snowploughs and emergency vehicles.

Nagoya University has opened a research centre, bringing together academia, industry and government, with the aim of developing automated driving technologies as one of its first key projects. At the Nagoya University National Innovation Complex, researchers from the university’s schools of engineering, medicine, environmental studies and information science will work closely with their counterparts from six private companies, including Toyota Motor Corporation, Panasonic and Fujitsu.

A report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) outlines the life-saving benefits of currently available collision avoidance systems and recommends that the technology become standard on all new passenger and commercial vehicles. The report, The Use of Forward Collision Avoidance Systems to Prevent and Mitigate Rear-End Crashes, stresses that collision avoidance systems can prevent or lessen the severity of rear-end crashes, thus saving lives and reducing injuries. According to statistics fro

John Kendall considers the public’s awareness of the benefits of ITS. While the results of developing ITS technology may be clear to readers of ITS International, there is far less evidence that drivers have any appreciation of what the technology is doing for them. So how aware are drivers of the developments that are designed to make their journeys less congested and safer?