SARTRE - automated road train development

Date: 11/12/2009

Source: BBC News; Professional Engineering, 4 November 2009, pg. 43

An EU-financed research project – SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) is looking at possible ways of creating road trains on European roads. These trains would consist of up to eight vehicles of different types being led by a single lead vehicle.

The lead vehicle would be driven by a professional driver who would monitor other vehicles in the convoy. Each vehicle in the convoy would be controlled by the lead vehicle through ITS and cooperative vehicle to vehicle (V2V) systems. The aim is to make these platoons active so that vehicles can join and leave at any time. While the vehicles are in the platoon, their drivers would not need to drive.

Funded under the European Commission's 7^th Framework Research Programme, SARTRE is aimed at commuters in cars who travel long distances to work every day but will also look at ways to involve commercial vehicles. The EU hopes that road trains will deliver several benefits including:

• Improved traffic flow
• Reduced journey times
• Reduced number of accidents
• Improved fuel consumption
• Reduced CO₂ emissions
• Greater comfort to drivers.

The SARTRE project will run for three years with trials expected to be held on test tracks in the UK, Spain and Sweden towards the end of the project. There are also plans for public road trials in Spain.

The project partners are currently doing preliminary research to find out all the elements needed for a working system and the situations in which it might be used.

More information on the project can be found on the RICARDO web site and the Green Car Congress .

Keywords: Cooperative vehicle systems, European Commission, In-vehicle systems, Project