Autonomous Transport | Telia, Ericsson Enable 5G Ride in Stockholm

Last week, a US-based multinational automotive and clean energy company unveiled a prototype of an autonomous vehicle roughly the size of a bus, said to be capable of carrying up to 20 people. No timeline was given for when this vehicle might be tested on public roads, but the good news for anyone interested in this topic is that a consortium of partners from the telecom industry, academia and the public sector have been testing 5G-connected autonomous public transport vehicles in Sweden for the past four years under the “5G Ride” banner.

On September 24, 2020, the Kista Science City technology center in Sweden, Ericsson, Telia, French transportation company Keolis and Intel, with funding from Sweden’s Vinnova innovation agency and the Drive Sweden program – which finances innovations in shared, connected and automated mobility – invited members of the public to take short rides in a 5G-connected autonomous electric minibus on the island of Royal Djurgården in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

Since then, commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology public research university in Stockholm, the Region Stockholm municipality, T-Engineering, Viscando, Vy and Applied Autonomy have joined the project. T-Engineering develops control systems and electrification for future mobility; Viscando developed a system that tracks vehicles and humans to gain insights into movement patterns, traffic flow and human behavior; Vy is the largest land-based transport group in the Nordic region; and Applied Autonomy is a Norwegian mobility tech company that develops software solutions for autonomous transportation.

Subsequent achievements include further developing the Traffic Tower concept from Applied Autonomy using a 5G connection to monitor and manage fleets of self-driving vehicles on public roads, as well as deploying sensors in infrastructure that enhance the traffic perception of self-driving vehicles by sharing real-time traffic data via a reliable, low-latency 5G network.

Throughout the project, the goal has been to develop safe and stable solutions that can be implemented in regular traffic, and to make 5G-enabled electric driverless public transport services a reality.

Intel contributed with analytics and processing for onboard AI, while both Scania and Applied Autonomy delivered vehicle and self-driving technology.

Viscando provided smart 3D- and AI-based infrastructure sensors, and KTH conducted research on both 5G network capacity and advanced sensor fusion and driving logics.

Vy investigated passenger perceptions of onboard safety in the absence of a human driver. Through focus groups, as well as how communication between the control tower and a bus might work in the event of an emergency.

Ericsson contributed with a private 5G network to evaluate how new 5G features can support autonomous public transport. Telia provided connectivity through its public 5G network and a private 5G network at Scania’s test track in Södertälje, Stockholm County, in collaboration with Ericsson, as Magnus Leonhardt, Head of Strategy and Innovation at Telia Sweden’s B2B business, explains.

“The 5G Ride project has given us unique insights around the demands on connectivity, and 5G specifically, to enable self-driving vehicles to be deployed safely in public transport,” he says. “We have also had the opportunity to use our joint capabilities in our 5G innovation program, NorthStar, that we run with Ericsson and that Scania is also part of, to trial key scenarios in the 5G Ride project. We look forward to continuing this work with customers and partners in public transport and the automotive industry, to allow for the transition to safer, more efficient, and sustainable solutions for public transport.”