Turkey’s autonomous bus passes tests
Otokar's collaborative project with Okan University for Turkey's autonomous bus has reached an important milestone.
Otokar continues to shape the future of public transport with research and development activities focused on alternative fuel vehicles, intelligent buses and autonomous driving. Otokar’s collaborative project with Okan University for Turkey’s autonomous bus marked an important milestone. After three years of development work, the second phase of software integration and driverless verification tests on Turkey’s first autonomous bus has been completed.
The company began work on Turkey’s first intelligent autonomous bus in 2016 with the CoMoSeF (Co-Operative Mobility Services of the Future) project, which involved the development of software and hardware for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-device communication, and then Otokar accelerated efforts to develop the autonomous bus. As part of the university-industry collaboration support programme, Otokar has partnered with Okan University since 2018 to develop Turkey’s autonomous bus as part of the “Advanced Autonomous Bus System Development” project. With development work underway for three years, the second phase of software integration and verification testing of Turkey’s first autonomous bus, which senses its environment and provides safe and comfortable driving with precise control at low speeds, has been completed.
“A BUS THAT WILL CONFIRM TURKEY’S R&D STRENGTH”.
Serdar Görgüç, Managing Director of Otokar, emphasised the importance of this project for the Turkish automotive industry, “The autonomous bus marks an important milestone in terms of demonstrating that the new technologies and efficient mobility methods that will shape the future of cities and the transport industry can be developed by our country’s human resource. The autonomous bus, developed with the joint efforts of our R&D engineers and Okan University’s professors, researchers, PhD, Masters and undergraduate students, will once again confirm Turkey’s innovative strength and skilled human resources. Our autonomous bus will create a platform for the autonomous city bus that Otokar will develop with a zero accident rate, which is also in line with the European Union’s 2050 targets.”
PEDESTRIANS FIRST FOR THE BUS THAT PROMISES A NEW FUTURE IN MOBILITY
Otokar has structured the research and development work on Turkey’s first autonomous bus into four phases. Once the second phase is completed, the autonomous Otokar bus will be able to detect its environment using advanced sensor fusion algorithms on roads closed to traffic. With a sensitive controller design, the vehicle offers a comfortable ride at low speeds between 0 and 30km/h, at which control of the driving systems can be difficult. The high-precision position-controlled steering algorithm enables the autonomous bus to turn corners and cross intersections safely. The autonomous bus detects passengers waiting at the bus stop and picks them up. Passengers wishing to get off the bus simply press the stop button.
The autonomous bus, which has been designed to always give priority to pedestrians, gives way to pedestrians at pedestrian crossings and ensures safety with an emergency braking function. If pedestrians, animals or cyclists appear unexpectedly in front of the vehicle, the bus applies the emergency brake. Once the obstacle or potential hazard has been cleared, the vehicle itself makes the decision to continue on the road using advanced sensor fusion and artificial intelligence algorithms, and also automatically detects traffic lights and road signs.
The autonomous bus, equipped with stop-and-go adaptive cruise control (Stop & Go ACC) to facilitate driving in slow, busy traffic, monitors the distance between vehicles in front and to the side, enabling autonomous cruising. The vehicle can use stop-and-go ACC at both low and high speeds at a safe distance. The third phase of development is currently under way.
For this project, Otokar is collaborating with Okan University, a leading Turkish university with specific infrastructure and know-how in connected autonomous vehicles. Okan University established the Transport Technology and Intelligent Vehicle Systems Application and Research Centre in 2009.
For a video of the Otokar autonomous bus, please follow the link:
