On January 6, Volvo Cars announced that it will first launch its unsupervised autonomous driving function "Ride Pilot" in California, USA. Volvo will work with lidar maker Luminar to test the system in California by June this year. Once its safety on the highway has been verified, it will be installed on the flagship SUV launched later this year.
The Volvo Coreage concept or flagship SUV to be launched this year
Mats Moberg, head of research and development at Volvo Cars, said Volvo plans to launch the first true unsupervised autonomous driving feature in the United States because it wants to set a new industry standard for autonomous driving without compromising safety. Among Volvo's new all-electric SUV to be launched this year, there is Zenseact's new AD software and Luminar's LiDAR standard, which will push for changes in the rules for Volvo Cars and for car safety and autonomous driving.
Illustration of Volvo's autonomous driving function
According to Volvo, the system will be equipped with nearly 30 sensors, including Luminar's cutting-edge Iris LiDAR sensor. In addition, the system comes standard with 5 radar sensors, 8 cameras and 16 ultrasonic sensors to ensure excellent perception reliability. The system can also be updated via OTA to facilitate continuous upgrades and improvements to make it more secure. When The Ride Pilot is active, the driver can read, write, work or socialize without having to worry about vehicle driving. Volvo said it chose California for testing because of favorable weather and regulatory conditions. But Volvo is also planning to expand it to more and more parts of the world.