A fleet of driverless vehicles using UK-built software is set to be trialed between Oxford and London in 2019.
Oxford-based artificial intelligence company Oxbotica is leading a consortium of companies that include Oxford Robotics Institute, re/insurer XL Catlin, Nominet, Telefonica O2 UK, TRL, the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s RACE, Oxfordshire County Council, Transport for London and Westbourne Communications.
The DRIVEN consortium will receive £8.6m grant from the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles delivered through Innovate UK.
The vehicles will be operating at Level 4 autonomy, capable of undertaking all safety-critical driving functions and monitoring roadway conditions for an entire trip, with no passengers.
The program will take place for 30 months and is expected to start this month.
The consortium will address communication and data sharing between connected vehicles; connected and autonomous Vehicles insurance modeling.
A fleet of six inter-communicating vehicles will use Oxbotica’s vehicle manufacturer agnostic software, Selenium.
The project will transform how insurance and autonomous vehicles will work together in connected cities.
Oxbotica CEO Graeme Smith said: “Today’s news is truly ground-breaking. No company, group or consortium of autonomy experts has ever attempted what Driven is planning over the next 30 months.
“We are seeking to address some of the most fundamental challenges preventing the future commercial deployment of fully autonomous vehicles.”
University of Oxford, Oxford Robotics Institute Head and one of Oxbotica’s founders Professor Paul Newman said: “DRIVEN is the first of its kind and brings a host of new questions surrounding the way these vehicles will communicate with each other.
“We’re moving from the singleton autonomous vehicle, to fleets of autonomous vehicles – and what’s interesting to us at the Oxford Robotics Institute is what data the vehicles share with one another, when, and why.”
