DescriptionIn order to extensively test the vehicle (i.e. under different traffic situations, road environments, weather conditions,...) a 2000 km trip was scheduled for June 1-6, 1998. During this test, ARGO drove itself autonomously along the Italian highway network, passing through flat areas, mountains including high bridges and tunnels. The Italian road network is particularly suited for such an extensive test since it is characterized by extremely different road scenarios, thus including varying weather conditions, and is generally highly crowded. For speed reasons, the tour took place mainly on highways and freeways, although the system has been designed and tested to work also on rural extraurban roads. In the next sections the critical analysis of this test is presented and the main bottlenecks of the system, as well as some considerations on the possible solutions that can be addressed, are highlighted.
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