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Volvo Autonomous Solutions Unveils State-of-the-art Autonomous Testing Facility

2023-11-09
Volvo Autonomous Solutions has officially inaugurated a state-of-the-art autonomous testing facility at AstaZero, a RISE (the Research Institute of Sweden) test site. Located outside of Borås, Sweden, the mining and quarry focused testing facility is dedicated to fostering innovation, supporting a robust test and validate process, and guaranteeing the reliability of autonomous solutions.
Volvo Autonomous Solutions Unveils State-of-the-art Autonomous Testing Facility
Helén Eliasson (center), President of the Regional Executive Board Västra Götaland cuts the ribbon to officially inaugurate the new testing facility outside Borås. She is joined by Nils Jaeger (second from right), President of Volvo Autonomous Solutions, Peter Janevik (second from left), CEO of AstaZero, Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (first from left), Chair of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications in Norway and Jacob Aduama (first from right), Manager – Transport Mission at Volvo Autonomous Solutions.
This testing facility represents an initial commitment of around SEK 40 million, showcasing our tangible promise to transform the movement of goods in mines and quarries while lifting the level of safety for all that are involved. The result of the work conducted at this new testing facility will enable us to develop and strengthen our relationships with industry partners while driving our customers’ success in their journey towards autonomy.

Peter Janevik, CEO of AstaZero, emphasized the significance of the day saying, “This site is an example on how RISE and AstaZero can help industry partners take crucial steps in advancing the automated, sustainable, and secure transport system. Complete mission test and validation capabilities will be critical to deploy automated systems for closed environments.”

Nils Jaeger, President of Volvo Autonomous Solutions speaks at the inauguration ceremony.

Volvo Autonomous Solutions’ new testing site is comprised of open/flexible use areas, loading and unloading areas, charging areas, multiple paths with varied inclination, and a control room. Safety has been embedded by design into every aspect of the facility’s test and validation processes. The site will enable faster feedback loops and accelerate software development while offering the flexibility to adapt to customers’ current and future needs.

Sigbjørn Gjelsvik speaks at the inauguration event, on behalf of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications in Norway. Norway is one of the first countries globally to grant permission for the removal of safety drivers in autonomous mining and quarry operations.

Journalists wanting further information, please contact:
 

David Reese

Acting Head of Marketing & Communications, Volvo Autonomous Solutions

e-mail: david.reese@volvo.com

+1 717 7247726

About Volvo Autonomous Solutions

The autonomous transport solution offered by Volvo Autonomous Solutions is based on Transport as a Service (TaaS) and includes a vehicle purpose-built for autonomous driving, a virtual driver, required infrastructure, operations and uptime support as well as a cloud solution that controls the transport system and manages logistics flows. The solutions developed by Volvo Autonomous Solutions are tailor-made for each customers’ needs and intended to make their operations safer, productive and sustainable.

 

About AstaZero

AstaZero is the world’s first full-scale independent test environment for the automated transport system of the future. It is a neutral, and open environment and research organization for testing automated vehicle solutions and advanced safety systems. AstaZero is a test bed for the automated transport system owned by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. Partners and financiers are Volvo Group, Volvo Cars, Veoneer, Scania, The Swedish Transport Administration, Region Västra Götaland, Vinnova, Borås Stad and EU – European Regional development fund.