Volvo is quietly becoming a tech superpower
Volvo is quietly becoming a tech superpower
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By Cadie Thompson
Volvo
When
you think of high-tech cars, you probably think Tesla or BMW.
But
there’s another automaker that is quietly becoming one of the industry’s most
tech-centric brands: Volvo.
For
years, the Swedish car company has been at the forefront of introducing the
latest safety tech into its vehicles.
But
the car company’s tech savviness extends beyond just its safety systems.
Volvo is also investing in technology and partnerships that will make its
cars more convenient, efficient, and autonomous.
The
company's latest move includes a partnership with Uber to
develop a new base vehicle for autonomous driving.
Here’s
a closer look at how Volvo is quietly becoming one of the leading car companies
in auto tech.
Volvo is
sneaking up on Tesla when it comes to autonomous tech.
The
company’s Pilot Assist II, which will become available in Volvo's new vehicles
next year, will do all of the steering and braking at speeds of up to 80 mph.
Currently,
the company's semiautonomous system only handles steering and braking for
speeds up to 30 mph on the highway and it must have a car in front of it to
follow. So it's really only useful when you are in stop-and-go traffic.
Next
year, the updated system will be much closer to what Tesla offers, allowing the
car to do the steering and braking on the open road up to 80 mph. It will also
no longer need a car to follow to work.
The
updated system will, however, still need clear lane markings to work
properly.
The
system will come standard in Volvo's S90 and be available as an option in the
2017 XC90.
Volvo has also partnered with Uber to develop self-driving
vehicles.
Uber
Volvo and Uber have teamed up to
develop base vehicles that work compatibly with all of the latest
autonomous-driving technology.
Both
companies are investing $300 million in the project. Volvo will build the new
base vehicles and Uber will then purchase the cars from the automaker.
However,
Volvo will also use the new base vehicle for the next stage of its own
self-driving-car strategy, which includes fully autonomous driving.
The company is already testing its autonomous-driving
system, called Intellisafe Autopilot, internally. But it will launch a pilot
program next year that enables real customers to test out the technology.
During
the pilot program, drivers will still need to supervise their vehicle while
it's in autonomous mode. However, data collected during the pilot will be used
to improve the system so the company can eliminate human supervision in just a
few years.
"We
will design and test for real outliers because just building and demoing a
self-driving car, is not very difficult," Eric Coelingh, Volvo's
senior technical leader for safety and driver-support technologies, told Business Insider.
"But
building a self-driving car and saying that an ordinary customer can get behind
the steering wheel, that means that the car should be able to deal with all
thinkable traffic scenarios that occur on the road — extreme conditions in
terms of weather and traffic scenarios, but also technical flaws in the
system."
By 2020, Volvo plans to offer Intellisafe Autopilot to the public.
By
2020, Intellisafe Autopilot will enable the car to drive autonomously without the
driver's supervision. However, a driver will likely only be
able to activate the function in certain areas that are well mapped.
The
company is investing in artificial intelligence to power its self-driving cars.
Earlier
this year, Volvo announced it had partnered with chipmaker NVIDIA to use
its deep-learning computers to power Intellisafe Autopilot during the DriveMe
pilot.
NVIDIA’s
platform for self-driving cars, which is called Drive PX 2, basically gives the
car deep-learning capabilities. Deep-learning is a type of machine-learning
where computers are able to teach themselves by sifting through tons of data.
This
way the car can learn to identify different objects and situations so that it
can continually improve. But expect Volvo's first driverless car to be extra
cautious, just in case.
"Designing
a self-driving car is very much about dealing with exceptional situations. And
I think we will have a self-driving car that, in the early years, will be a
very careful and polite driver," Coelingh told Tech Insider.
"Safety
is really at the heart of this development and we will let the car drive with
sufficient safety margin so if you miss a turn or something it doesn't
become dangerous."
Gradually, Volvo will also roll out some of the futuristic design elements it showed off last year in its driverless-car concept called Concept 26.
Some
of the features included in the Concept 26 are
a steering wheel that retracts, a seat that reclines, and a console that can
transform into a large screen.
While
Volvo won't roll out all of these features in its first self-driving
car, Coelingh said none of the things included in Concept 26 are that
far-fetched.
"These
are really simple things. Things like getting more space by moving the seat
backwards, moving the steering wheel in, you can do all of these things with
little effort," Coelingh said.
"Concept
26 is pretty realistic in what you can do. It’s not like you have a swiveling
chair or putting in a dining table. It’s still a car interior, but it provides
you with a little bit extra."
Volvo is interested in more than just self-driving cars. It’s also investing in
technology to make its cars more connected and convenient.
For
example, Volvo's On Call app provides access to data about the car's condition
and lets the owner control certain functions remotely.
Among
other things, owners can use the app to view the car's location, fuel level,
lock status, maintenance warnings, and to check if a window or door was left
open. It can also be used to start the car remotely, control the car's climate,
honk the horn, and flash the lights.
Next year, Volvo will introduce its first commercial vehicle
that won’t have a key. Instead, the key is the driver’s smartphone app.
The Bluetooth-enabled digital key will
make it so users never have to carry a key again. It will also allow owners to
easily share digital keys with people they trust.
Volvo will also soon begin over-the-air software updates
for its newer vehicles.
Volvo will
integrate technology in its newer vehicles to enable over-the-air software
updates. This will let the company seamlessly install safety updates and
new functions.
It
will also make customers' lives a lot easier, considering owners
currently must bring their vehicles into a dealership for software
updates.
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