Researchers at the University of Michigan plan to open a robot "city" to make sure driverless cars are safe to be in when they start taking over the roads.
The $6.5 million facility, called M City, comes in the form of a 23-acre mini-city in the suburb of Ann Arbor where automakers can test their autonomous vehicles to make sure they can handle the dangers of today's roads, according to Bloomberg.
Features of the metropolis include 40 building facades, angled intersections, a traffic circle, a bridge, a tunnel, gravel roads, obstructed views and a four-lane highway, the last designed to show autonomous cars' ability to merge without a driver. Cars are also tested on their ability to avoid running down real people by "mechatronic pedestrians," or robots that will pop out into traffic from time to time.
The University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute worked with several automakers on the project, including Toyota, GM and Ford, as well as with the Michigan Department of Transportation, The News Wheel reported.
"We would never do any dangerous or risky tests on the open road, so this will be a good place to test some of the next technology," explained Hideki Hada, general manager for electronic systems at Toyota's Technical Center in Ann Arbor.
Hada added that intersections present a big challenge for cars in the city "because there are vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles together with complex backgrounds with buildings and connections to infrastructure."
Because M City is located deep in the snow belt, the city's manager will use snow to mimic winter conditions that are common in big U.S. cities, Bloomberg reported.
Unlike other testing methods for self-driving cars, M City serves as a controlled environment to see how these vehicles would do in a realistic setting. Other companies in the autonomous race have so far tested their vehicles on public roads and private proving grounds. Google, for example, has been testing its self-driving Toyota Prius in Silicon Valley.
Volvo also uses a real-world setting in West Sweden to make sure the cars it makes in the future can operate safely on the roads. The testing site, called AstaZero, also aims to help the automaker develop new road safety systems.
The University of Michigan will complete construction for M City this summer and test driverless cars in all seasons and weather conditions.
