For the purpose of testing autonomous road transportation the robotTUNER company has developed a safe experimental environment based on a Renault Twizy. The Twizy is automatised (aka drive-by-wire) and connected to Green Dino driving simulation software, thus creating a so-called Digital Twin (a digital replica of an industrial process). The first field experiment with the AT-Lab was conducted in October 2020 at Groningen Airport Eelde. This test aimed to illustrate that is was possible to drive a remote controlled car at high speeds. Ultimately, the Twizy managed to reach a speed of 72 km/h, before it had to be slowed down due to the length of the test track. robotTUNER has been commissioned by @north to make the AT-Lab suitable for projects on public roads in compliance with the Exceptional Transport (Exemptions) Decree as well as the ‘Experimenteerwet’ (Dutch legislation on permit granting that regulates experimenting with self-driving cars, implemented by the Netherlands Vehicle Authority). A roadmap has been developed in which the Twizy will be driven on public roads without an operator in 2022, in 2023 with an 8-person bus and in 2024 with a 12-meter bus.
Dit project wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door
Another project objective is linking up with knowledge institutes such as the University of Groningen and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen.
The project – launched in 2020 – is scheduled to end basically when certification and subsequent implementation of autonomous road transportation – for instance within PT concessions – becomes reality, thus allowing it to become fully embedded in our regular mobility system.