Companies want to test self-driving cars on TT Circuit

Some major car brands would be interested in using the TT Circuit in Assen to test self-driving cars. The municipality of Assen and the province of Drenthe announced earlier this year that they wanted to make the circuit suitable for this. Three million euros has been earmarked for this.

Alderman Maurice Hoogeveen of the municipality of Assen says on the RTV Noord site that ‘a number of major car brands, manufacturers of sensors and navigation maps, and knowledge institutions’ have reported to use the circuit for testing purposes.

In the near future, the circuit will be equipped with various equipment for testing purposes, including a fiber optic network to which sensors can be connected. When the network is ready in the spring of 2016, the tests can begin.

All this takes place in the context of Sensor City, a project of the municipality and the province to realize a ‘large-scale urban measurement network with which various practical applications of complex sensor systems can be developed’. In addition to the city and the province, Drenthe College and Hanze University of Applied Sciences are also involved in the project on the TT Circuit.