Cars that know people are around – Telstra tests new V2P technology

Telstra have conducted an Australian first test of a new technology that might help prevent cars hitting pedestrians or cyclists and it’s all done on the mobile phone and mobile network.

Vehicle to Vehicle communication is a wide ranging area of investigation around the world right now, as is Vehicle to infrastructure communication which might see cars communicating electronically with signs and traffic lights.

The trial undertaken in South Australia takes this one step further, with drivers made aware of cyclists and pedestrians in the area with early warning collision detection.

Common scenarios were tested, such as a car coming around a blind corner or approaching a pedestrian crossing, as well as reversing out of a driveway.

Telstra’s Chief Technology Officer Håkan Eriksson said the tests were about making the roads safer.

“The most important outcome of V2X technology is the increased safety for road users, as the impact of human error can be minimised by helping vehicles communicate with each other and react to their surroundings,” Mr Eriksson said.

“This is the first time V2P technology has been trialled in Australia on a 4G network, and is an important step on the journey to fully-autonomous vehicles on Australian roads. This follows our successful trials of V2I in October 2016 and V2V in February 2017, also completed in partnership with Cohda,

“As operators of Australia’s largest and fastest mobile network, we believe Telstra’s 4G and future 5G networks can play a vital role in supporting the faster rollout of intelligent transport systems and V2X applications, making implementation of the technology cheaper and more efficient.”

Early days, and you’d think there’s a long way to go to make it even close to fool proof, but – every bit of data, every possible warning can’t be a bad thing.

To discuss further, we had a chat with Fabien Cure from Cohda Wireless.