TOMSK, Mar
15 – RIA Tomsk. The Tomsk self-driving car successfully passed tests at the
FSUE "NAMI" training ground, and although due to violations of
technical regulations, it will no longer claim victory in the "Winter
City" competition, project will be completed thanks to the sponsors
appeared, the director of the "Technical Vision" alliance Victor
Shirshin told RIA Tomsk.
Earlier it
was reported that the Tomsk team, united by the "Technical Vision"
alliance, prepared the car for participation in the "Winter City"
competition, but was not allowed to official tests in early March because of
violations of technical regulations. Tomic residents were allowed to
participate in the "consolatory" finale, but without the possibility
of winning a cash prize.
"We
were still given the opportunity to test our car after the races of all
participants. We were among the individual teams which were able to adjust the
technical vision for the first tests. Thanks to video cameras, ultrasound sensors
and a GPS module, our self-driving car successfully detected obstacles. In
addition, it's one of the few which recognized traffic lights signals from the
first time", – Shirshin said.
According
to him, the final will be held in December 2019. The car will need to
autonomously drive a distance of 50 kilometers in no more than three hours. The
"SmartVision Tomsk" team will not be able to qualify for the top
prize, but the monetary motivation was not initially decisive for the team.
© предоставил Денис Шергин
"The
cooperation of companies – is that for the sake of which it is possible and
necessary to work on this project. The autoelectric vehicle has already
returned to the garage in the SEZ, and we have gathered new ideas and work on
errors. It is important that we have sponsors: information wave which rose
after RIA Tomsk’s publications on preventing Tomsk citizens from being tested
before the tests due to violations of technical regulations attracted much
attention to us", – the interlocutor of the agency told.
He added
that negotiations are underway with several sponsors who are ready to support
the Tomsk project of an unmanned vehicle. Shirshin is sure that there will
definitely not be a shortage of finances now. The main part of the work comes
at the expense of the companies of the "Technical Vision" alliance,
but about 5-6 "sponsor" millions will be required to purchase
components and pay for work that Tomsk citizens cannot do themselves.
Earlier it
was reported that the "Winter City" competition with a prize fund of
175 million rubles was announced by the Russian Venture Company (RVC), Skolkovo
Foundation and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. Participating teams will
try to create an unmanned vehicle – self-driving car (possibly the first in the
world) for winter driving by December 2019.