Skip to main content

Move_UK develop new validation method to speed up AV deployment

Move_UK has completed the first phase of its three-year research programme for the real-world testing of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the borough of Greenwich, London. The project has enabled the company to develop a new validation method to reduce the time taken to test automated driving systems and bring them to market. The project’s data is gathered from sensors installed on a fleet of Land Rover vehicles that have already completed more than 30
October 20, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Move_UK has completed the first phase of its three-year research programme for the real-world testing of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the borough of Greenwich, London. The project has enabled the company to develop a new validation method to reduce the time taken to test automated driving systems and bring them to market.

The project’s data is gathered from sensors installed on a fleet of 7999 Land Rover vehicles that have already completed more than 30, 000 miles on public roads in Greenwich by council workers from their fleet services department. As part of the validation method, data is selected and recorded which helps to reduce the total volume of data collected and speed up validation of the automated driving functions in the real world. The data is automatically transferred to a central cloud, allowing researchers to analyse it remotely. Consortium partners assess how automated driving functions respond, helping to ensure that future AVs drive in a natural way and retain the characteristics of a good driver.

Business and energy secretary Greg Clark said: “Low carbon and self-driving vehicles are the future and the UK is determined to be one of the leaders in this technological revolution. Through our Industrial Strategy, the Government is laying the foundations to ensure the UK seizes the opportunities presented by the development of our next generation of vehicles.

“Government investment, through our Intelligent Mobility Fund, in the MOVE_UK programme is helping deliver this pioneering research into the ‘real world’ application of this technology. It is a collaboration between Government and industry that is building our expertise and reputation in self-driving technology and support our clean growth, low-carbon agenda.”

Richard Cuerden, academy director at 491 TRL commented: “The completion of the first phase of the project brings us another step closer to seeing autonomous vehicles on UK roads. Through MOVE_UK we can compare the behaviour of the automated driving systems with the behaviour of human drivers, which, in turn, will help to improve the safety and validation of automation systems.”

Related Content

  • March 9, 2018
    Public invited to take part in Greenwich driverless pod trial
    Members of the public are invited to trial a fleet of driverless pods operating on a 3.4km route around Greenwich Peninsula as part of the £100m ($139m) Gateway project’s final phase. The pilot aims to understand the public acceptance of, and attitudes towards, driverless vehicles. The four pods will use advanced sensors and autonomy software to detect and avoid obstacles while carrying passengers. The vehicles, developed by Westfield Sportscars and Heathrow Enterprises, have no steering wheels or typical
  • August 11, 2016
    Tesla crash in China puts autonomous cars in the spotlight again
    Tesla is investigating the crash in Beijing, China last week, when a Tesla Model S in autopilot mode hit the side of a parked car. According to Reuters, Tesla said it had reviewed data to confirm the car was in autopilot mode, a system that takes control of steering and braking in certain conditions. Tesla also said it was the driver's responsibility to maintain control of the vehicle. In this case, it said, the driver's hands were not detected on the steering wheel. "The driver of the Tesla, whose h
  • January 28, 2019
    Google spin-off Waymo to open ‘world’s first Level 4 AV’ factory in Michigan
    Waymo, the company that began as Google’s driverless car project, has pledged to open a facility in Michigan, US, to produce advanced autonomous vehicles (AVs). In a statement, Waymo insisted: “This will be the world’s first factory 100% dedicated to the mass production of Level 4 AVs.” Level 4 automation means that no human interaction is required, and the vehicle is able to adjust in the case of things going wrong – but there is an option for manual override. This is still some way from Level 5, in
  • January 29, 2016
    Heathrow’s Ultra Pod technology joins GATEway driverless car pilot
    British companies Westfield Sportscars, Heathrow Enterprises and Oxbotica have joined the GATEway (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment) project in Greenwich and are currently developing driverless shuttles for operation in Greenwich in summer 2016. Using entirely British engineering and software capabilities, the new consortium members will be developing the existing UltraPods currently in service at Heathrow Airport into fully autonomous and electric passenger shuttles. Operating at Terminal 5 for ne