Volvo has enlisted two Swedish families to aid development of the brand's autonomous cars.
The families will test its a pair of Volvo XC90 SUVs on the public roads of Gothenburg, Sweden, and feed back their impressions to Volvo engineers.
The Volvo XC90s are fitted with Volvo’s latest driver-assistance technology, as well as an array of cameras and sensors to monitor their behavior and provide the car with information on its surroundings.
During these first stages, the families will keep their hands on the steering wheel and supervise the driving at all times when using their cars. But, over time, all participants in the Drive Me project will gradually be introduced to more advanced assisted-driving cars, after receiving special training.
Real-world testing is all part of Volvo's Drive Me project which will see three more families receiving autonomous Volvos early next year, increasing to a total of over over 100 people over the next four years.
Both families will contribute to Drive Me by allowing engineers to monitor their everyday use and interaction with the car, as they drive to work, bring the kids to school or go shopping for groceries.
Drive Me will involve real customers testing the different stages of driver-assisted and eventually fully autonomous technology.
Volvo Cars plans to have a fully autonomous car commercially available by 2021, with the data derived from Drive Me playing a crucial role in the development of these autonomous cars.
"Drive Me is an important research project for Volvo Cars,” said Henrik Green, Senior Vice President of Volvo's R&D department.
“We expect to learn a lot from engaging these families and will use their experiences to shape the development of our autonomous driving technology, so that by 2021 we can offer our customers a fully autonomous car.”
-Driven