Eureka Prometheus Project

PROMETHEUS logo

The Eureka PROMETHEUS Project (PROgraMme for a European Traffic of Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety, 1987–1995) was the largest R&D project ever in the field of driverless cars. It received €749,000,000 in funding from the EUREKA member states,[1] and defined the state of the art of autonomous vehicles. Numerous universities and car manufacturers participated in this Pan-European project.[2]

In formulating the project, the automotive and industrial partners recognised the need for a wide range of skills and cooperated with over forty research establishments to create a programme consisting of seven sub-projects. Under a steering committee were three projects on industrial research and four on basic research.[3]

Industrial research

  • PRO-CAR : Driver assistance by computer systems
  • PRO-NET : Vehicle-to-vehicle communication
  • PRO-ROAD : Vehicle-to-environment communication

Basic Research

  • PRO-ART : Methods and systems of artificial intelligence
  • PRO-CHIP: Custom hardware for intelligent processing in vehicles
  • PRO-COM : Methods and standards for communication
  • PRO-GEN : Traffic scenario for new assessment and introduction of new systems

In 1987, some UK Universities expressed concern that the industrial focus on the project neglected import traffic safety issues such as pedestrian protection. PRO-GEN project leader, the UK Government's Transport and Road Research Laboratory noted that research activities should 'in some way, further the aims of the vehicle companies.[4]

  1. ^ "EUREKA Project E!45 PROMETHEUS". EUREKA website. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2015-10-31.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Resources for tomorrow's transport. Brussels: European Conference of Transport Ministers (ECMT). 31 October 1989. pp. 455–458. ISBN 92-821-1142-3. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  4. ^ Information, Reed Business (29 October 1987). "New Scientist" (1584): 30. Retrieved 23 July 2018. {{cite journal}}: |first1= has generic name (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)