One step closer to autonomous travel on New Zealand roads

23 November, 2016

You’ve seen the self-driving cars running people over on the internet, and the likes of newspapers being read on main highways thanks to autonomous technology. Now New Zealand will be hopping on the today-of-tomorrow bandwagon with the first demonstration of a self-driving vehicle on Kiwi roads having taken place on November 17.

The joint venture between New Zealand Traffic Institute (Trafinz), Volvo, New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), the Ministry of Transport, and car manufacturer Volvo, set a self-driving car loose on Tauranga’s roads where it travelled up to 15km in normal traffic conditions, without needing input from a driver.

According to Volvo Cars NZ General mManager Coby Duggan, the vehicle self-drives using sophisticated technology to navigate the roads, which operates at ‘level 2’ — a global standard that measures the degree of the vehicle’s autonomy.

“Under level 2 or partial automation, the automated system executes accelerating, braking, and steering, however the driver will be required to interact with the vehicle and intervene if necessary as they are ultimately responsible for how the vehicle operates.

“By 2021 we expect Volvos to be at level 4 or high automation, where the system will monitor the driving environment and will maintain control even if the driver does not intervene when advised by the vehicle,” he said.

So forget sending the kids off to school in your soon-to-be self-driving car, as a driver is still needed to periodically confirm an occupant is present — unless you want them to rack up the demerits early.

Henrik Järlebratt, senior product director from Volvo headquarters, broke down the science behind the technology to Trafinz conference attendees, and said that he is pleased to see agencies working together to introduce self-driving vehicles in New Zealand.

“[The] event in Tauranga is important for a number of reasons … beyond showcasing how self-driving works, it demonstrates that there is the necessary level of cooperation among car makers, government agencies, and industry bodies in New Zealand to allow the widespread adoption of innovative new technologies to customers,” he says.

Järlebratt says large-scale autonomous-driving trials are planned for England, China, and Sweden next year.

Let’s just hope that Skynet doesn’t get a wind of what’s happening — some of the drivers on our roads are bad enough as it is without an apocalyptic-driven program taking control of our cars. 

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.