Volvo Cars drives towards crash-free future with AstaZero Proving Ground

Volvo Cars has opened its AstaZero facility, located in close proximity to the Volvo Cars headquarters in western Sweden. AstaZero, whose industry partners consist of Volvo Car Group, Volvo Group, Scania, Autoliv and Test Site Sweden, is the world’s first full-scale proving ground for future traffic safety solutions and brings the Volvo Car Group a step closer to realising its vision that by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car. The name Asta (Active Safety Test Area) relates to the facility’s connection to a vision of zero traffic fatalities.

An important measure towards achieving this goal will be the development of active safety systems, which will help to prevent accidents. These active safety systems will be the primary focus at AstaZero. One of the facility’s greatest assets is its flexibility, with a design that permits the construction of unique, customised environments. Pether Wallin, CEO of AstaZero, says, “You can simulate all types of real-world traffic scenarios. At most proving grounds, the options are more limited.”

The centre can accommodate a wide range of test conditions, such as those found on busy city roads, highways, multi-lane motorways and crossroads. These conditions are crucial for studying the way cars interact with moving obstacles such as other cars, pedestrians, cycles, mopeds, motorcycles, trucks, buses and even animals that suddenly appear. In certain studies, e.g. those involving complex traffic situations and high speeds, robots will operate the test vehicles.

“Safety testing under realistic circumstances is a prerequisite for developing our active safety systems,” says Anders Axelson of Volvo Cars Safety Centre. He continues: “The facility will play several important roles: not only will it help us meet our safety vision, developing cars that don’t crash, it will also help us further develop safety functions that will address non-motorists, such as pedestrians and cyclists.”

AstaZero’s total surface area amounts to about 2,000,000 square metres with a paved surface of 250,000 square metres. The facility is encircled by a 5.7 kilometre highway connected to a city environment with four blocks, 40 by 25 metres. AstaZero also features a high-speed area consisting of a circle, 240 metres in diameter, with ‘drop add-ons’ joined to a 700-metre long multilane road.

R&D for next-gen tech

One of AstaZero’s main functions will be as a platform for the research and development of next-generation safety technologies. Here, in collaboration with universities and industry partners, Volvo Cars will undertake a range of initiatives, from strategic vehicle research and innovation projects to targeted research projects.

‪The work at AstaZero will also include the development and testing of autonomous driving technology, an intelligent driver support system designed to reduce accidents while improving the driving experience. Advanced systems are also under progress to further help prevent, for example, inattentiveness and driver fatigue.

Although meeting their target date of 2020 may be an ambitious goal, Volvo Cars has every reason to be optimistic. Anders Axelson says: “The Swedish automotive industry is at the leading edge of active safety. Thanks to AstaZero, we have great prospects for keeping our leading position. We’re the only car manufacturing company in the world to have set a goal of zero traffic fatalities for a specific date, and we’re the only country in the world whose government supports a zero traffic fatalities vision.”