Drivers rely on tether-less, powerful, on-board systems and controls every day. The demand for connected and autonomous solutions continues to fuel the competition inside today's automotive industry.
Waterloo Engineering offers a broad range of diverse expertise in connected and autonomous vehicle research, with more than 60 dedicated faculty and researchers.
As the leading Canadian university in automotive research, we are home to the country's largest academic-industry enterprise,the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR). Long-standing industry partnerships, combined with some of the world's top academics in this field of research, have enabled our continued growth and excellence.
Our labs, facilities and research groups in connected and autonomous driving research are extensive, offering the latest technologies and equipment to produce solutions that advance industry standards.
CBC show host Rick Mercer visits Waterloo Engineering researchers and students working on the "Autonomoose" self-driving vehicle.
Check out our 360 tour of the Autonomous Vehicle Research and Intelligence Lab (AVRIL). Use your mouse to click and drag to get a full 360 degree view of AVRIL.
News
Technology designed to limit damage when AVs crash
New technology developed at Waterloo Engineering enables self-driving vehicles to limit injuries and damage in situations where they can’t avoid crashing.
The system is needed, according to mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor Amir Khajepour, because there are too many uncertainties to ever completely eliminate collisions involving autonomous vehicles.
“There are hundreds, thousands, of variable we have no control over,” he said. “We are driving and all of a sudden there is black ice, for instance, or a boulder rolls down a mountain onto the road.”
Self-driving car, robots featured on Amazing Race
Humanoid robots in an Engineering 7 maze and a self-driving car being developed by a University of Waterloo student design team were featured last night in an episode of CTV’s The Amazing Race Canada.
Filmed on campus in early May, the events showcased the state-of-the-art RoboHub and work by WATonomous, and were broadcast in an episode that also included several other locations in Kitchener and Waterloo.
Researchers develop wheel units to cut vehicle costs
Vehicles could be affordably produced for a wide variety of specialized purposes using a sophisticated wheel unit developed by Waterloo Engineering researchers.
The self-contained unit combines a wheel and an electric motor with braking, suspension, steering and a control system in a single module designed to be bolted to any vehicle frame.