Driverless cars hit British streets in landmark trial

First time driverless cars tested on UK streets with new camera-laser technology from Oxford University robotics lab.

TRANSPORTATION

Driverless cars hit British streets in landmark trial

11/10/2016
AFP News agency

Driverless vehicles carrying passengers took to Britain's streets for the first time on Tuesday in a landmark trial which could pave the way for their introduction across the country.

The compact two-seater cars trundled along a pedestrianised zone in Milton Keynes, north of London,

If the trial is successful there are plans to roll out 40 vehicles in the city.

FIRST TEST IN PUBLIC PLACE

This represented a major milestone for autonomous vehicles in Britain according to Neil Fulton, programme director at Transport Systems Catapult (TSC), the company behind the project.

"The special thing about today is that this is the first time that a self-driving vehicle has been tested in a public place" in Britain, he said.

The technology will also be piloted in London's Greenwich borough to run eight vehicles around pedestrianised areas next year.

CAMERA & LASER TECHNOLOGY, TESTED ON PEDESTRIAN STREETS AT 5 MPH

Although the new system is currently only being trialled on pedestrianised streets at speeds of around five miles per hour, self-driving cars on British roads "are not that far away", he added.

The "Selenium" autonomy software running the vehicle was developed by Oxford University's Oxford Robotics Institute and its spin off company Oxbotica.

The software uses data from cameras and lasers to navigate the route.

Unlike existing systems, the technology does not rely on GPS.

The vehicle experiences its environment and interprets what it sees around it in the context of what it has seen before.

"The cameras peer out at the world," explained Newman, a professor at Oxford University's department of engineering.

"They take pictures of the world and the software compares those pictures with what it knows it should look like," he said.

DRIVERLESS SYSTEM COULD BE ADDED TO ANYTHING THAT MOVES

He said the system could be integrated into "anything that moves", from cars and buses to forklift trucks, golf-carts and disability vehicles.

Britain’s Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark hailed Tuesday's trial as "a groundbreaking moment".

"The research that underpins the technology and software will have applications way beyond autonomous vehicles," he said.

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