This is how Volvo understands autonomous driving

Volvo has always been one of those pioneering brands in the global automotive landscape, with a clear commitment to areas such as safety.

Now, the Swedish firm is taking a step further and positioning itself as one of the benchmarks in autonomous driving, the future of personal mobility.

It is clear that the next step in today’s world, full of assistants, sensors, cameras and warnings, is the beginning of autonomous driving. That is why some brands already offer automatic braking systems, capable of detecting potential risk situations and momentarily taking control of the vehicle to avoid a hypothetical accident.

Today Volvo shows us its particular vision and proposal for autonomous driving. The brand will be one of the first to market vehicles with these characteristics, since it already has a fleet of vehicles, specifically the XC90, fitted with these systems and covering large distances every day.

For Volvo, comfort and ease of use are paramount in this type of system. To achieve this, it has devised a system with which the driver can interact with just two fingers. In a hypothetical situation in which autonomous driving is possible, for example a long journey on a motorway, the system would warn the driver of this possibility.

In that case, the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel take center stage, alerting the driver with flashing lights that autonomous driving is available. In that case, all that is needed is to pull both paddles with both hands, at which point the paddle light becomes steady to indicate to the driver that the car now has control.

If for any reason the vehicle detects that it will not be able to cope with independent driving, it will warn the driver via messages on the instrument cluster. It will also start a 60-second countdown, after which the driver must press one of the paddles to tell the car to take control of the situation. If this action is not taken, the vehicle starts a safe stop sequence until the driver responds and can resume control of the driving.

Source | Volvo

Technical specifications of this car

Off-RoadVolvo XC9010 versions · from 82,200 €