On-road tests next step for self-driving car
Jaguar Land Rover is taking part in the UK’s first road tests for autonomous and connected vehicles, bringing an intelligent vehicle one step closer to reality. The NZ$38 million UK Autodrive project entails testing a range of technologies that will allow for communication between cars as well as roadside infrastructure. The trials will demonstrate how connected and autonomous vehicles can replicate human behaviour and reactions when driving. The company’s overall vision is to make the self-driving car viable in the widest range of real-life, on and off-road driving environments and weather. Nick Rogers, Executive Director of Product Engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, commented, “Testing this self-driving project on public roads is so exciting, as the complexity of the environment allows us to find robust ways to increase road safety in the future. By using inputs from multiple sensors, and finding intelligent ways to process this data, we are gaining accurate technical insight to pioneer the automotive application of these technologies.” There are currently 12 other cities, apart from Conventry that are conducting tests on public roads globally. UK Autodrive is the largest of the three associations launched in order to support the introduction of autonomous vehicles into the UK. The consortium has already proven these research technologies in a closed track environment and the start of real-world testing is the next step to turning the research into reality. The trials will carry on into 2018.