Volvo is the latest automaker to join the self-driving car race, announcing this week its plan to start a pilot program to put its own autonomous vehicles on the road.
Unlike other autonomous projects started by other car companies, the Swedish automaker's initiative will consist of tests on public streets and with regular commuters, according to Mother Nature Network.
"We're setting up a complete system; it's a holistic view we're taking," Volvo senior vice president Dr. Peter Mertens, said. "It's really easy to build a car that can go around a race track at 250 kilometers an hour [as Audi has done] or put together a living room on wheels [Mercedes] and pretend that this is how cars will look in 10 years."
The program will take place in Volvo's hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden and will consist of 100 autonomous vehicles, Business Insider reported. The city is reportedly allowing customers to drive around selected public streets.
Volvo claims that its autopilot system can take complete control of the car and that it can be used in different scenarios, including regular driving, gridlock traffic and emergency situations. Features that give the system these capabilities include cloud-based positioning systems and advanced braking and steering technology. The vehicle also comes with a network of sensors, which includes seven radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors, five cameras and a laser scanner.
The company said backup systems will take over for these systems in case they fail, Business Insider reported.
The car will cue the driver to take over in situations where the autopilot system has to shut down, such as harsh weather conditions or a malfunction. The vehicle will also stop safely on its own if the driver is unable to take control efficiently or is incapacitated.
The automaker also believes its self-driving car tech will be able to handle emergency situations better than humans can, Business Insider reported.
"In a real emergency, however, the car reacts faster than those humans," Dr. Erik Coelingh from Volvo said.
The public pilot program will begin sometime in 2017, but it has yet to be revealed as to when Volvo will be able to expand the program.
Volvo is the latest company to attempt to be the first to put a self-driving car on the road, with others including automakers Tesla and BMW, as well as tech giants Apple and Google.
