President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday opened the nation’s first closed testing ground for self-driving cars, the Taiwan CAR (connected, autonomous and road-test) Lab in Tainan.
“Autonomous car technology is an opportunity that Taiwanese industries cannot miss,” and it is expected to help bring local vehicle component manufacturing and the entire technological industry to new heights, she said.
Following the enactment of the Act for Uncrewed Vehicle Technology Innovations and Experiments (無人載具科技創新實驗條例) last year, other traffic regulations, and financial and insurance systems are being planned, Tsai said.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
Tsai and former premier William Lai (賴清德) — a former Tainan mayor — toured the lab site in a car made by the Automotive Research and Testing Center, one of three at the facility, with the vehicle easily moving around a car-shaped barrier.
The Taiwan CAR Lab covers 1.75 hectares in the Salun Smart Green Energy Science City compound and features 13 simulated traffic scenarios, the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) said.
The other vehicles at the lab were made by Acer Inc (宏碁) and National Cheng Kung University faculty, and they can achieve level 4 automation — high automation without human presence in specific conditions, NARL Planning and Promotion Office associate researcher Chang Lung-yao (張龍耀) said.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
However, crew members are required to be on standby inside the vehicles at this stage, Chang said.
Building the Taiwan CAR Lab cost about NT$250 million (US$8.12 million at the current exchange rate) and took nine months, he said, adding that test dummies, fake motor scooters and a rain simulation would be added later.
Automated cars have to undergo testing within a closed area before they can be tested on open roads, and step-by-step progress is more suitable to Taiwan given its limited market scope, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said.
The ministry is collaborating with the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan to ensure that the safety standards for local autonomous cars match global criteria, Chen said.
Driverless navigation is a cross-disciplinary industry that is open to students in all university departments, especially as some researchers are studying passenger behavior in such vehicles, he added.
The Office of Science and Technology is consulting with the six special municipalities about using larger autonomous buses for public transport in designated areas, which might happen next year, office Executive Secretary Tsai Zse-hong (蔡志宏) said.
A group of Cheng Kung students attended yesterday’s opening ceremony to see a model car they helped developed with Juang Jyh-ching (莊智清), a professor of electrical engineering, and other faculty members.
Integrating data collected from the vehicle’s sensing, positioning and controlling systems was the most challenging part of developing it, and their team would continue to work on improving related technology for future road testing in populated areas, the students said.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old