$11-million autonomous vehicle testing facility launches in Ottawa

Invest Ottawa along with the Ontario government and other strategic partners launched the Ottawa L5 Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) test facilities at the Ottawa Greenbelt on Friday morning. 

More than three dozen small and medium companies will be using the private track to conduct safety tests and try out the new vehicle technology. 

More than 90 companies contribute to CAVs in Ottawa says Kelly Daize from @Invest_Ottawa pic.twitter.com/L03nMqakFp

— Jenn Pritchard (@JennnPritchard) May 17, 2019

The Ottawa L5 is values at more than $11-million, with $5-million coming from a provincial investment through the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network and more than $6-million from public and private partners including the City of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission, Microsoft, Blackberry QNX and Ericsson. 

The CAV being tested on the 16 km track includes the Blackberry QNX towncar, which is equipped with a special display that maps out the route and several sensors including a lidar. That piece of equipment is essentially a live stream for what is happening outside the vehicle at all times. 

Thousands of hours go into building these vehicles. 

“We are always ripping it apart from a software perspective, replacing sensors and again putting in all our technology and evolving our technology,” explained VP of Products and Strategy at Blackberry, Grant Courville. “At the end of the day, this is sort of the building blocks of what you're going to see in the next gen (generation) cars.” 

 

Grant and Dave gave me a tour around the site… no hands on the wheel or feet on the pedals. Pretty incredible technology being tested here in Ottawa. @1310NEWS #ottnews pic.twitter.com/bPmhFEWjen

— Jenn Pritchard (@JennnPritchard) May 17, 2019

 

The testing facility being located in Ottawa is also ideal for companies looking to test their technology against mother nature, as the city is famous for having hot and humid summers and cold, harsh winters. 

“We gotta make this works in snow and rain and sleet,” said Courville. “That's the next step as we evolve what we're doing, is making sure it works in all weather conditions.” 

 

This is an outside view of the CAV in motion. pic.twitter.com/v9hCQSvYJA

— Jenn Pritchard (@JennnPritchard) May 17, 2019