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NEWS
Self-driving cars a step closer
Mercedes-Benz enlists US Navy facility in the testing of autonomous carsMercedes-Benz has just announced it will be using the Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS) in the south west of the US to continue its autonomous-car research.
The move follows Audi's first-in-queue application for a permit under new rules introduced in September concerning the operation of autonomous cars in the American state of California.
While Mercedes-Benz says it has been testing autonomous vehicles on Californian roads since September, the company's access to the CNWS will allow additional research on the 2100-acre test bed site that is described as the largest and most secure in the US.
As an ideal location for testing autonomous-drive vehicles in surroundings that are as close to real life as they can be, the site has a network of surfaced roads laid out in similar style to an urban grid plan.
Dr Axel Gern, the head of autonomous driving at Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America, Inc. (MBRDNA), said "We can use the test site in Concord, California, to run simulation tests with self-driving vehicles in a secure way, including specific hazardous situations.
"Taken in conjunction with the results of our test drives on public roads, these tests will help us with the ongoing development of our autonomous cars."
The use of the extensive US facility comes a little more than a year after Mercedes-Benz demonstrated its progress in the technology by sending an INTELLIGENT DRIVE S 500 (pictured) on a 100km fully autonomous drive between Mannheim and Pforzheim in Germany in August 2013.
Audi is testing a specially-equipped A7 in California, and the company has also modified a TTS for autonomous driving. The TTS recently completed the entire 20km length of the Pikes Peak hill climb without a human on board.
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