Volvo plans 'virtual co-driver'

Volvo is taking part in a €28m EU project to develop the next generation of safety systems for trucks, which could see vehicles get a 'virtual guardian angel' that essentially acts as a 'pair of eyes' - and there's no reason it can't be incorporated into our cars in the very near future.

The technology, which Volvo is working on as part of the EU's Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport (HAVEit) scheme to develop intelligent safety systems, can potentially 'take over' certain tasks for the driver, reducing the likelihood of accidents. It uses sensors linked to the outside, monitoring traffic, road markings and weather conditions (as well as the driver), which 'interprets their needs.' HAVEit Project Coordinator Reiner Hoegner said: "We all have different temperaments, so the system must recognise when the driver is feeling irritated or calm."

But he adds that the technology will not take control away entirely form the driver - a real worry with automated safety systems - but will rather make the monotonous day-to-day things like traffic jams easier to deal with. Volvo is one of twenty makers involved and aims to get a working prototype of the 'guardian angel' system out by 2011, which will automatically negotiate traffic jams for a driver at speeds of up to 18mph.

So, in the event of crawling stop/start traffic, the vehicle will monitor the traffic in front and stay a set distance away, but unlike most of today's radar cruise control systems - which do a similar thing at motorway speeds - this new technology will actually stop the car entirely and start it up again automatically. It also takes Volvo's lane departure warning system a step further too, by physically keeping the truck in its lane, rather than simply sending out an audible warning if it strays across the lane markings.

Mark Nichol