Born to Drive
Born to Drive – when the car takes the first step
Consat Engineering, together with Volvo Cars and other members of the VICTA network, has developed a solution that enables newly built vehicles to drive themselves to designated parking areas – without a driver and without any new hardware.
What started as an internal idea at Consat has been carried out as an innovation project with support from Vinnova. The project demonstrates how existing vehicle technology can be used directly in production – to save time, reduce costs and improve logistics flows.
Objective: To demonstrate how today’s vehicles, using existing technology, can automate the journey from production line to parking space – entirely without a driver.
Read more about the project
The challenge
Each newly produced car is typically driven around 25 times before reaching the end customer – often manually within the factory area. This is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and costly. At the same time, modern vehicles already have the technology required to drive autonomously in clearly defined areas.
The solution
By combining existing in-vehicle technology with a prototype traffic management system developed by Consat Telematics, the vehicle – in this case a Volvo XC90 – was able to exit the production line, follow a set route, and park at the correct location, entirely without a driver. The system relied on RTK GPS for centimetre-level precision and software control via Actia hardware.
The result
Born to Drive demonstrated that autonomous driving within factory areas is feasible using today’s vehicle technology. The solution is based on systems already present in modern vehicles and does not require extra hardware. Replacing manual transport also reduces wear on the vehicles.
Value-driven innovations
Contact us
Want to know how we can help you automate, digitalise, or improve logistics in your production? Contact us today for more information or to schedule a demo.
