Skip to main content

UK university project paves the way for smarter cities and autonomous cars

The new i-Motors project, led by academics from the University of Nottingham’s Geospatial Institute and Human Factors Research Group and digital technology company Control F1, aims to build a mobile platform that allows vehicles of different manufacturers and origins to transfer and store data. The project, which has received a US$1.9 million award from the UK’s innovation agency Innovate UK sets out to establish a set of universal standards on how vehicles communicate with each other, and with other ma
February 1, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The new i-Motors project, led by academics from the University of Nottingham’s Geospatial Institute and Human Factors Research Group and digital technology company Control F1, aims to build a mobile platform that allows vehicles of different manufacturers and origins to transfer and store data.

The project, which has received a US$1.9 million award from the UK’s innovation agency Innovate UK sets out to establish a set of universal standards on how vehicles communicate with each other, and with other machines.

The i-Motors team will use patented technology, which it says allows data to be collected and analysed at greater speeds than ever before.

Capitalising on the experience of traffic management experts InfoHub, these data can then be combined with other data sources such as weather reports, event data and traffic feeds, easing congestion and increasing safety through real time updates and route planning.

In addition, the platform will allow vehicles to report errors, which can be automatically crosschecked against similar reports to diagnose the problem and reduce the chance of a breakdown.

The project will adopt a human-centred approach, aiming to understand the complex issues involved in the provision of new information and services for the ‘drivers’ of future vehicles.

Tapping into Head Communications’ expertise, i-Motors will also address the issue of limited connectivity by developing sensors capable of transmitting data to the cloud in real time. Through installing these sensors, known as Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS), vehicles can remain connected with sub-metre precision, even when out of internet and GPS range.

The project will make use of Huduma’s experience working on telecoms solutions on a global scale to make i-Motors sustainable and commercially successful in the long term.

i-Motors already has the backing of Nottingham, Coventry and Sheffield City Councils, where the new technology will first be piloted, and a letter of support from the Transport Systems and Satellite Applications Catapult, and fleet management experts Isotrak.

The project will make use of live vehicle data provided by Ford, which has an ongoing relationship with the University of Nottingham.

Related Content

  • Videalert: Bath experience highlights joined-up thinking
    August 7, 2019
    Councils can achieve greater value with multi-purpose traffic enforcement and management platforms, says Tim Daniels of Videalert. But UK authorities could also help deliver solutions by committing to ‘joined up thinking’... Joined-up thinking’ used to be a commonly related governmental phrase and implied a commitment to looking at elements of a problem to deliver a holistic solution. However, the way that successive governments have addressed major issues has demonstrated their inability to achieve join
  • Spin pledges £100,000 to mobility research
    December 3, 2020
    Initial focus is on safety and will include data from Vivacity Labs' AI and IoT sensors 
  • Communications hold key to expanding ITS wireless network expansion
    December 21, 2017
    Wireless transmission of data and control information is making smarter traffic management easier and cheaper to install. It has long been known that connectivity is the key to improving traffic management and many cost-benefit studies prove that investment in new technology can be justified in terms of reduced congestion, shorter travel times, improved safety and air quality. However, many authorities’ cap-ex budgets only cover urgent matters, not improvements, making it difficult, if not impossible to
  • Communications hold key to expanding ITS wireless network expansion
    December 21, 2017
    Wireless transmission of data and control information is making smarter traffic management easier and cheaper to install. It has long been known that connectivity is the key to improving traffic management and many cost-benefit studies prove that investment in new technology can be justified in terms of reduced congestion, shorter travel times, improved safety and air quality. However, many authorities’ cap-ex budgets only cover urgent matters, not improvements, making it difficult, if not impossible to