drive
Autonomous Audi takes 900km road trip
The Audi A7 piloted driving concept has just completed a long distance 560-mile (900km) test drive, much of it in autonomous mode. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, January 8, 2015.A specially adapted version of the company's flagship A7 coupé covered over 500 miles to get from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas with much of the time spent travelling on full auto pilot.
In all, the journey covered 560 miles (900km) with an Audi test driver in the passenger seat and a number of invited journalists in the back, each of whom got a chance to sit in the driver's seat for some hands-off experience.
"The results of the test drive underscore our piloted driving competency", said professor Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi board member for technical development. "I'd like to thank the team of Audi engineers, VW Group R&D and the Electronics Research Laboratory for making it such a great success."
The purpose of the trip was to demonstrate the capabilities of a host of production-ready sensors as well as the A7's existing standard sensors and assisted driving technology. Working together the sensors can take over driving duties at speeds of up to 70mph (just over 110 km/h), keeping a safe speed and safe distance from the vehicle in front, and able to initiate lane-changing manoeuvers.
When the system hits its current limitations such as in congested city centre situations, the driver is prompted to take charge once more.
Unlike in previous years, at the 2015 International CES Audi is by no means alone in using the event to demonstrate its latest breakthroughs in terms of piloted, connected and autonomous driving. Mercedes, Ford and BMW as well as Audi's parent, Volkswagen, have all taken to the stage this week to show what is already possible and to highlight where the future of self-driving cars is heading.
Watch the video: http://youtu.be/OS9FbvEnFWQ. – AFP/Relaxnews, January 8, 2015.
Please note that you must sign up with disqus.com before commenting. And, please refrain from comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature and note that comments can be edited, rewritten for clarity or to avoid questionable issues. As comments are moderated, they may not appear immediately or even on the same day you posted them. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments