Renault has produced 1,000 cars for a European trial of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies.
SCOOP is an EU project, based in France, focused on the deployment of cooperative intelligent transportation systems. It facilitates trials of future vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) connectivity solutions under real-world driving conditions.
Renault said it is working with SCOOP to test new technology on its Mégane vehicles and is in the process of recruiting fleet partners to be part of the project.
“Our main goal is to offer our fleet customers cars that are safer on the roads and improve the flow of traffic,” explained Christine Tissot, Renault SCOOP project manager. “These vehicles ‘talk’ to each other and warn each other in real time of any hazards, slow traffic or accidents on the road ahead. Infrastructure firms like French motorway operator SANEF also send information to compatible cars about traffic, roadworks, speed limits, accidents and upcoming hazards.”
The SCOOP-enabled Mégane cars are equipped with connected, autonomous driving technologies including sensors and computers that gather and analyse vehicle data such as speed, steering wheel angle, possible tyre grip problems in relation to the weather, windscreen wiper operation and deployment of airbags.
If a problem is detected, the car’s on-board computer automatically sends a warning message to other SCOOP-enabled vehicles and to units positioned along motorways. These units then notify emergency services if a major incident is detected, Renault said.
Initially, the units will be installed along 2,000 kilometres of roads in the greater Paris region, along the A4 motorway, in the Isère department in eastern France, on the Bordeaux ring road and in Brittany.
“In this early phase we are seeking fleet partners who want use the latest connected technology to test new ways of keeping their employees safer on the road,” said Nadine Leclair, senior vice president, expert fellow at Groupe Renault. “Under the SCOOP project, trialling these fleet vehicles now also means they are part of building a new ecosystem for Europe’s autonomous, connected cars of the future.”
