Skip to main content

Sartre road train project enters final phase

The Sartre (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project, funded by the European Union, has announced that it has successfully completed the first test demonstrations of a multiple vehicle platoon.
March 16, 2012 Read time: 1 min
The Sartre (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project, funded by the 1116 European Union, has announced that it has successfully completed the first test demonstrations of a multiple vehicle platoon. The test fleet included a lead truck followed by three cars driven entirely autonomously at speeds of up to 90 km/h (57mph) – with no more than six metres gap between the vehicles. The project is being driven by seven European partners and is the only one of its kind to focus on the development of technology that can be implemented on conventional highways in which platooned traffic operates in a mixed environment with other road users.

Sartre, led by Ricardo UK, compromises a collaboration between 1578 Idiada and Robotiker-1582 Tecnalia of Spain, 3971 Institut für Kraftfahrwesen Aachen (IKA) of Germany, 1587 SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, and 2394 Volvo Car Corporation and Volvo Technology (3970 Volvo Group) of Sweden.

Related Content

  • Winter maintenance challenge
    February 29, 2012
    Many countries had their most severe winter for years, but it could have been much worse without the right equipment and technology as Patrick Smith reports. As many countries faced up to the 2010-2011 winter, hard-pressed maintenance teams did their best to keep things moving on the roads. With some of the lowest temperatures and heaviest snowfalls on record, the UK, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, France, Scandinavia, Germany, and Belgium were among those affected. Russia, eastern Europe and the USA did
  • Advanced driving simulator developed by TRL
    July 4, 2018
    In the UK, TRL is introducing a sophisticated driving simulator that will help with developing transport infrastructure as well as research into driving. This advanced system is intended to assist in driving future transport policy, customer safety and road network performance. The new simulator can be used for behavioural research into driving and can be used as a validation tool. The complete simulator package features three main systems as it consists of the new full size DigiCar, a portable version (Mi
  • Advanced automatic braking could reduce accidents
    August 8, 2012
    Sophisticated new automatic braking technology could boost road safety and reduce accident levels. Car manufacturers are poised to make the introduction of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) technology across a wide array of new models due for launch. Some AEB systems have been fitted to a number of, mostly high-end, models from firms including Audi, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes, Volvo and VW.
  • Flanders' Drive demonstrates smart mobility with Traficon technology
    April 25, 2012
    Last week, the Flemish press witnessed a demonstration in Lommel, Belgium, presenting how Traficon technology can collaborate with so-called smart vehicles. The demonstration was part of the Vision project of Flanders’ Drive, the research centre for the automotive industry, which collaborates with a consortium of companies to research and test vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. In the successful demonstration a Traficon C-Walk pedestrian detector was combined with a smart vehicle, which was equipped w