In recent days, some users of the A13 were overtaken by a strange vehicle: a futuristic “look” never seen, but above all, a driver sprawled in his seat, sometimes even wearing a virtual reality helmet! No need to panic, however. This is a autonomous vehicle test carried out by Renault with its Symbioz Demo car , specially designed for this. For the manufacturer, it’s far from being a first. “We are driving six Renault Espace on highways or expressways, in France and Germany, since the beginning of 2016,” says Laurent Taupin, chief engineer of autonomous vehicles at Renault.
Star spot tests
For two and a half years, experiments of this type, on the so-called “open” road, are multiplying in the Hexagon. PSA, which was the first, in mid-2015, to obtain the authorization to run autonomous C4 Picasso on motorway in France , now has 12 vehicles that it tests, also on highways and expressways. “We now total more than 150,000 kilometers of tests,” says Vincent Abadie, head of autonomous vehicles at PSA.
Similarly Valeo started its own tests eighteen months ago: the equipment manufacturer has not only run its autonomous vehicles on highway, but also on departmental and even … in Paris. “We drove Place de l’Etoile several times,” says Guillaume Devauchelle, Valeo’s director of innovation. “It allows us to test complicated situations in which it is impossible to respect the rules of the road, for example, if we do not want to remain stuck”.
Validate technologies
For these actors of the autonomous car, it is about accumulating experience. “We study the behavior of the vehicle in as many situations as possible, and we complete with simulation,” says Guillaume Devauchelle. “Objective, to obtain a” serious “failure rate of less than one in a billion kilometers”. Valeo is seeking to validate the performance of its sensors (cameras, radars, lidars). At Renault and PSA, it is a question of being able to commercialize autonomy functions in series in a few years. Renault hopes to offer “Level 4” on the motorway in 2023.
Today, such a “Level 4”, on a scale of 5, allows the driver to completely detach his attention from the road, the vehicle being able to get on his own. For the time being, the regulations do not authorize it: France has ratified the Vienna Convention, which requires the driver to have total control of his vehicle, with both hands on the steering wheel. To carry out experiments, it is necessary to obtain exemptions from the Ministry of Transport, which has for the moment granted a quarantine. With always a supervisor in the vehicle, ready to take back control.
Fight for investments
Other countries, like the United States , Japan or Germany, have taken the lead in the race . In some American cities, like Pittsburgh, the cars without driver already plow the streets. “There is a real struggle to attract investment in R & D and the best engineers, says Franck Cazenave, subject specialist at Bosch France. Tokyo has promised autonomous vehicles for the 2020 Olympics, Paris must be able to be at the forefront for those of 2024! “.
Aware of the stakes, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has designated the autonomous vehicle as a priority and named last November Anne-Marie Idrac, former Secretary of State for Transport and patron of the RATP, senior official for the national development strategy autonomous vehicles. A first roadmap is due in May 2018.