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On-road demo bolsters Kanata North’s credentials as Canada’s
autonomous vehicle capital For the first time in Canada, a car drove on a public road without a driver’s assistance
K
anata North played host to a Canadian first in October that showcased the region’s status as an autonomous vehicle hub. A grey Lincoln sedan powered by BlackBerry QNX technology cruised through Canada’s largest technology park without anyone’s hands on the wheel before coming to a stop at a red light this fall, marking this country’s first onstreet test of an autonomous vehicle. In another milestone, officials from the City of Ottawa installed a short-wave radio system that messaged the vehicle when a traffic light turned red – the first time in Canada that municipal infrastructure has been connected to a self-driving car. As required by provincial law, a BlackBerry official was seated behind the car’s wheel, but held up his hands to demonstrate that the vehicle was steering without his control. With hundreds of curious onlookers watching the demo,
the event served as a spotlight on the more than 70 companies and organizations in Ottawa that are working on autonomous vehicle applications. “This critical mass of expertise and innovation is not replicated anywhere else in Canada,” then-Kanata North BIA executive director Jenna Sudds said. “They’re all here for a reason.” WEALTH OF TECH TALENT Kanata North firms are playing a key role in developing that new technology. In addition to BlackBerry QNX, which is building the software foundation, Nokia will be adding its 5G internet capabilities to the vehicles in the next phase. BlackBerry QNX vice-president John Wall, who also took part in the historic journey, said the region is the ideal development hub for autonomous vehicles, citing its wealth of tech talent and a climate that offers all the extreme testing conditions an automaker could want. “We think it’s the best of both worlds,” he said after the demonstration. “We have the allweather situation, we have a city
A self-driving Lincoln sedan powered by BlackBerry QNX technology drove through the streets of Kanata North this fall.
that’s committed, we have all the levels of government that are very interested in what we’re doing. Everybody’s supporting us. It’s perfect for us.” The car uses GPS, radar, cameras, remote light sensors and other high-tech equipment to detect and respond to its surroundings. Mr. Wall predicted luxury vehicles equipped with near-complete self-driving capability could hit the market by 2022, but said several safety and security issues
must still be resolved. But they’ll still look much traditional vehicles in one key respect, Mr. Wall predicted. “A car without a steering wheel? I can’t even envision when that is.” Economic development officials say the autonomous driving technology has markets beyond the automotive sector and could be used in agricultural equipment such as combines, enabling it to harvest a field of crops without a human operator.
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