Swedish families to help Volvo develop autonomous vehicles

Volvo Cars is set to start developing its autonomous drive cars with help from Swedish families who will test its cars on the public roads of Gothenburg and feed back their impressions to Volvo Cars engineers.

The first two families, the Hains and the Simonovskis from the Gothenburg area, have now received the Volvo XC90 premium SUVs with which they will support the Drive Me project.

Three more families will follow early next year, and over the next four years up to 100 people will be involved in Drive Me.

Both families will contribute to Drive Me data by allowing engineers at the company to monitor their everyday use and interaction with the car, as they drive to work, bring the kids to school or go shopping for groceries.

Volvo Cars plans to have a fully autonomous car commercially available by 2021, and the data derived from Drive Me will play a crucial role in the development of these autonomous cars.

Henrik Green, senior vice president for the company’s R&D department, said: “Drive Me is an important research project for Volvo Cars.

“We expect to learn a lot from engaging these families and will use their experiences to shape the development of our autonomous driving technology, so that by 2021 we can offer our customers a fully autonomous car.”

The Hains and the Simonovskis have received Volvo XC90s fitted with Volvo’s latest driver-assistance technology, as well as an array of cameras and sensors to monitor their behaviour and provide the car with information on its surroundings.