Volkswagen Sedric Self Driving Car

Published Date: 7th Jul 2017

Volkswagen Sedric – SElf DRIving Car

Volkswagen SEDRIC (SElf DRIving Car) is the first Volkswagen Audi Group self-driving concept car from the parent company of brands that include Audi, SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen.

The aim of the Sedric is to provide a glimpse into the short term future of driverless cars and the concepts that Volkswagen Group are considering as part of their future strategy. Sedric will help future vehicles become level 5 fully autonomous cars aware of the road and conditions around it and able to interpret and manage the environment without human intervention.

Sedric has four roof and several bumper mounted LIDAR sensors able to scan the road ahead and provide a sensing curtain around the vehicle to scan or map the road ahead so it anticipates conditions and reacts accordingly.

Sedric has some very interesting features and non-more so than the key fob that summons the vehicle to you which is linked to a universal mobility ID. This allows VW Group customers to switch between their own personal autonomous Sedric vehicle to a shared vehicle when they visit another country or city across the world. This suggests VW Group has a vision where customers may have their own automated vehicle but will also have access to other self-driving vehicles within the Volkswagen Audi group family.

The Volkswagen Audi Group vision of self-driving autonomous vehicles is based upon almost 20 years of research and development and as computer processing and vehicle sensor capability has increased over the last few years they have been quick to harness this power and create algorithms to enable vehicles to become more aware or conscious so vehicles can make quick decisions to deal with driving and navigating safely on the road.

SEDRIC (SElf DRIving Car) Technology

The technology on the SEDRIC vehicle that might just make it to production:

Lidar radar and camera systems: This is a light detection and ranging system fitted to the roof of vehicles and works in conjunction with various cameras and other sensors. In simple terms the way Lidar works is light pulses are emitted from a laser and the return pulses are recorded and the distance between the sensor and the object is then calculated.

Go, Stop & Call Operator buttons: The dashboard, steering wheel and pedals are replaced and this system suggests three modes, go to start a journey, stop to end a journey and call operator for assistance to get help if needed.

Air Purifier with charcoal Air filters: As people become more and more conscious of air quality especially in big cities where pollution manifests itself via smog and poor air conditions a cabin filter system to purify air as it enters the cabin and this may even in the future be mixed with oxygen as higher levels of oxygen keep us alert and awake so this could help improve alertness and reduce driver fatigue.

Voice Control: Volkswagen Audi Group have made huge improvements to the voice control systems in the last few year and all but the critical systems will have voice support.

OLED semi translucent screen: An ultra HD semi translucent screen will display driver information and sat nav directional maps whilst providing the driver with a detailed picture of the road ahead.

360 Degree Cabin Camera: A cabin camera will watch and monitor all passengers and will provide alerts if it detects any issues.

It’s important to remember that although sedric is a concept car it is expected many of these concept features will appear across the Volkswagen Audi group brands over the coming years and help create the universally usable and intuitive vehicles for which they are known.