O2 and European Space Agency explore C/AV solutions

O2 and the European Space Agency are working together to support a project aimed at developing connectivity solutions for connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) in the UK. O2 says Project Darwin will seek to test new technology and solutions involving 5G and satellite communications over the next four years. Catherine Mealing-Jones, director of growth at the UK Space Agency, says: “AVs need robust, high-speed mobile data connections to operate effectively. Building the technology to link them to tele
June 28, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

O2 and 6780 the European Space Agency are working together to support a project aimed at developing connectivity solutions for connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) in the UK.

O2 says Project Darwin will seek to test new technology and solutions involving 5G and satellite communications over the next four years.

Catherine Mealing-Jones, director of growth at the UK Space Agency, says: “AVs need robust, high-speed mobile data connections to operate effectively. Building the technology to link them to telecoms satellites will allow you to take your car wherever you want to go, and not just to areas with a strong mobile signal.”

Derek McManus, chief operating officer at O2, says the research will aid the creation of “new transport ecosystems for the UK public and the companies that will offer these services”.

“Our approach to this project is part of our wider strategy to collaborate with British businesses, partners and start-ups to unlock the possibilities of 5G for customers and wider UK economy,” he adds.

Based in the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, the project will bring together Oxford and Glasgow Universities, Spanish satellite operator Hispasat, start-ups specialised in self-driving mobility solutions and Darwin Innovation Group Oxford – a company specialising in connecting terrestrial and satellite communications.

From July, the project will explore connected vehicle and vehicle-SIM platforms as well as artificial intelligence neural network integration. The project is expected to showcase the first ‘proof of concepts’ in 2020.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • August 7, 2018
    Motown morphs into Mobility City
    Detroit was once a byword for urban decay – but ITS America recently held its annual meeting there. This gave David Arminas a chance to assess how fast Motor City is moving down the road to recovery. Motor City, as Detroit is still called, was on its financial knees only five short years ago. The future looked bleak as the city and greater urban area bled jobs and population. It was on 18 July 2013 that Motown, as Detroit is also known, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, the
    Read More
  • June 27, 2018
    An innovation lab – not a burden
    Travellers want to be able to book multimodal journeys easily – and to be informed of problems and alternatives as they go. Adam Roark might just be able to help, finds Ben Spencer. The global shift in transportation towards members of the public wanting access to multimodal journeys is rapidly changing how people pay and plan ahead. Buying tickets from a machine and dealing with the frustration of discovering your train is cancelled is a scenario commuters want to avoid through technology’s ability to
    Read More
  • October 8, 2018
    Blockchain: the next big thing for ITS? Really?
    Everyone’s heard of blockchain – but most people are less sure about what it really is, and how it might be used in transportation. Andrew Williams peers into cyberspace to find some answers. A growing number of organisations in the ITS industry are exploring how blockchain technology could be used for ITS and mobility applications. So, what exactly is blockchain technology? What are the key current and potential applications in the mobility and ITS sector? And what practical benefits might it bring?
    Read More
  • November 15, 2017
    TM 2.0 boost TMC data feed and driver influence
    TM 2.0 views connected vehicles and V2I as two-way communications channels, benefitting traffic management and drivers, as Alan Dron discovers. As connected vehicles are progressively rolled out there will come a point at which traffic managers and traffic management centres (TMCs) will have to gear up to cope with a rapidly-evolving road scenario. The TM 2.0 Platform (see box) is promoting a concept of new-generation traffic management (which carries the same TM 2.0 title) and is studying how future T
    Read More

Highlighted Content