Mazda commissions Atenza ASV-5 for public road trials
In this increasingly connected world, it is inevitable that one day we will all be driving cars that are wirelessly hooked into a public information cloud constantly exchanging information with our surroundings. Car-to-car communication systems are already in advanced stages of development, and their eventual availability to the mass market is surely just a matter of time.
Advocates of intervehicle communication systems often highlight safety as a key point in support of their argument. The thinking is that accidents can be reduced significantly with better coordination of movement between vehicles, and to facilitate such coordination, the ability for cars to send clear messages to each other become vital.
This month, Mazda Motor Corporation in Japan will begin testing the Mazda Atenza ASV-5 on Japanese public roads. The ASV-5, which stands for Advanced Safety Vehicle, is a prototype based on the regular Mazda Atenza (Mazda6 to us) fitted with an experimental driving safety support system that connects to intelligent transport system (ITS) networks.
The car will also take part in the 20th ITS World Congress Tokyo 2013 in October and demonstrate a futuristic safety system that will see trams and automobiles communicating with each other on the streets of Hiroshima.
Used by approximately 150,000 people daily, trams form an essential component of Hiroshima’s public transportation system. The new safety system enables communication between trams and automobiles equipped with an autonomous sensor. The trial is aimed at verifying the system’s ability to prevent collisions and support smooth and safe driving. The system was developed and is being tested by the Hiroshima ITS Research Unit with sponsorship from the Hiroshima ITS Public Road Test Consortium.
KON
Pictures: Official Mazda release.
