A test track at the University of Michigan has opened to allow automakers to test how self-driving cars will travel under a variety of scenarios.

“We had the faculty here at the university to design the fully evolved future,” says Peter Sweatman, head of the Transportation Research Institute, which oversaw creation of the M City test facility. “After all, we’re replacing humans with machines and those machines need to be able to operate in a full, rich environment.” He spoke to the Bloomberg news service.

M City is a 32-acre site that seeks to replicate urban environments, including traffic jams and unpredictable pedestrians. The $10 million facility has 40 M City is a 32-acre site that seeks to replicate urban environments, including traffic jams and unpredictable pedestrians. Source: University of Michiganbuilding facades, angled intersections, a traffic circle, a bridge, a tunnel, gravel roads and obstructed views. The site also includes a four-lane highway with entrance and exit ramps.

Sebastian, a mechatronic pedestrian, will step into traffic to test whether the robot cars will sense him and brake to avoid hitting him, Sweatman says.

Ford has already tested a driverless Fusion hybrid sedan in M City and computer mapped all the streets and structures. Automakers will prove their own technology on the course, and are jointly researching issues such as legal liability and how robot cars will make ethical decisions when confronted with a crash.

So-called “Leadership Circle” sponsors, such as GM, Ford and Toyota, will use the track first. They are paying $1 million over three years to gain top priority, Sweatman is quoted as saying. Affiliate sponsors, who pay $150,000 over three years, come next.

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