A new software update has given the Volvo EX60, EX90 and ES90 the ability to alert drivers of other similar Volvos about animals on the road.
It uses the car’s sensors and cameras to detect larger animals, such as deer or sheep, to warn drivers before they themselves have detected such dangers. The car then uploads the hazard’s position data to the cloud, which pings other EX60s, EX90s and ES90s in the vicinity to warn them as they approach, potentially avoiding a collision.
The update adds a similar system to warn of vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians or cyclists, and of roadworks ahead.
Other cars connected through the European Road Safety Data program will also be able to read the alerts.
Volvo safety chief Åsa Haglund told Autocar that these systems are possible thanks to the improved computing power of the new models compared to the brand’s previous models.
Haglund added that a key consideration in adding such systems was ensuring that drivers are not overwhelmed by information and that warnings are “reliable.” Otherwise, they could fall on deaf ears.
“We need to make sure that every time we warn you, it makes sense to you,” he said. “If every other time it doesn’t make sense, that’s when you’ll stop trusting the system.”
Haglund said the new cars’ technology platforms are key to ensuring that reliability: “Now, when we have this data, the new [technological] platform with the ability to collect that amount of data and be able to analyze and train [software models] “That’s when we’re mature enough to train the system to be very accurate and alert people when it’s relevant and leave them alone when it’s not.”
He added that “we [have launched it now] We know that quality and precision make sense to people” because “only when you know that drivers trust the system will it really have an impact.”
To that end, Haglund said Volvo will not aim to be the first to bring new features to market, but will only implement them once it is confident in their reliability. “If we acted on any idea and submitted it, could we be faster? Sure. Would it make the world safer? I doubt it,” he said. False positives “deteriorate confidence” in driver assistance systems, he added.
More broadly, he suggested that Volvo’s ambition is not to wrest control of cars from drivers, but to provide support when their driving standards decline. She said: “We are human, we are prone to making mistakes. A machine can stay alert at all times. It doesn’t get distracted, it doesn’t get tired and it can keep its eyes around the car at the same time, right? That’s the movement we need to do; what we need to train.” [systems] and make sure we can cover all those situations that arise. What we must keep in mind is that as long as the driver is aware, it is very clear what is needed and what is expected of him.”
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