Optimotive Technologies Inc., the award winning Windsor-Essex mobility startup, is proud to announce a new partnership with Windsor’s The Safety Village. As the first autonomous vehicle (AV) startup in the region, Optimotive will conduct on-site data collection using a small-scale autonomous vehicle at The Safety Village.

IRIS 2, Optimotive’s currently-in-development prototype vehicle, will soon cruise the Village streets to test out its proprietary, autonomous technology designed to guide vehicles in inclement and adverse weather conditions. “Winters storms, heavy rain, and other severe weather conditions are a major obstacle for current autonomous vehicle technology. We are designing solutions to keep vehicles safely on the road as they navigate some of the most challenging environments that drivers face. Our technology will integrate with autonomous and other vehicles to assist when the roadlines are not visible. As people in the Rose City know, Windsor sees all the wild weather.” says Scott M. Fairley, Founder and CEO of Optimotive. “We are grateful for this partnership with The Safety Village. It will provide us with the perfect test site to study the performance of our technology.”

The Safety Village features a scaled-down series of streets, buildings, crosswalks and intersections designed to teach road safety and injury prevention in an interactive and safe environment. With the help of local emergency service partners, safety education programs aim to acclimatize young people to their surroundings as early as possible. Melissa Lauzon, Executive Director of The Safety Village is delighted to see the partnership with Optimotive come together. “We’re very pleased with this opportunity to engage a local startup. How we keep our streets safe in the not-so-distant future is absolutely relevant to what we do here.”

Both Optimotive and The Safety Village agree that this partnership illustrate once again that automotive and Windsor are synonymous. This is a great opportunity for Windsor to advance the future of autonomous and safety technologies in harsh weather environments. Stay tuned for future updates.