UK city trials 3D mapping to aid services management and autonomous vehicles

The UK’s Oxford City Council has launched a street mapping trial project which it hopes could transform how manages its services across the city and pave the way for the development of autonomous vehicles. As part of the Smart Oxford project, the trial by the council and the University of Oxford’s Robotics Institute (ORI) will see sensors attached to a city council street cleaner in the city centre to create 3D maps. At the same time, the research team at the ORI is exploring data such as road and pavement
April 19, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The UK’s Oxford City Council has launched a street mapping trial project which it hopes could transform how manages its services across the city and pave the way for the development of autonomous vehicles.


As part of the Smart Oxford project, the trial by the council and the 7333 University of Oxford’s Robotics Institute (ORI) will see sensors attached to a city council street cleaner in the city centre to create 3D maps.

At the same time, the research team at the ORI is exploring data such as road and pavement surface damage, air quality and people numbers and movement that may be obtained to help the council and its partners to better manage the city. They are also studying other data such as litter and fly-tipping, parked vehicles, broken streetlights and signs and heat loss from buildings.

The information will enable more effective planning from the city council and its partners while creating records of unreported issues such as fly-tipping for the council to act upon. If the project is successful, the new innovation could see the City Council add the mapping tool to its fleet of vehicles.

Oxford City Council is a founding partner of Smart Oxford, a strategic programme of a wide range of city partners working together to develop and promote Oxford as a smart city. The city council, along with its Smart Oxford partners, is keen to support innovative ways of trialling smart city technologies and solutions.

GIS/ Mapping & Location Based Systems Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • 3D perception at centre of Chattanooga safety case
    April 14, 2023
    Nearly 1.24 million people die every year in crashes, with 27% of all road traffic deaths attributed to pedestrians and cyclists on city streets, according to the World Health Organisation.
    Read More
  • Ford Mobility: analytics aids transport proactivity
    April 2, 2020
    Ford Mobility has demonstrated how data analytics can help implement London's transport strategy in areas such as traffic re-timing and in eliminating all road fatalities (Vision Zero) by 2041.
    Read More
  • Website tracks health effects of walking and cycling
    August 8, 2017
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at a new online biking and walking benchmark report that allows transportation practitioners to compare communities and track progress. Transportation and public health are inextricably linked. The more people are encouraged to opt out of single occupancy vehicles, the healthier the overall community becomes. Sure, fewer pollutants are released into the air and commuters spend less time in traffic, but it’s the push to get people to ditch fully motorised transportation options a
    Read More
  • City of South Perth trials in-ground parking sensors
    June 25, 2015
    Working in partnership with Australian Parking and Revenue Control (APARC), the City of South Perth has recently installed in-ground parking sensors for a three-month trial period. The RFID-equipped SmartEye sensor from UK company Smart Parking is surface flush mounted and records when a vehicle arrives and departs from a parking bay. Once a vehicle has overstayed the permitted time limit, a signal is sent from the sensor to the nearest Council ranger's smart phone device. The City decided to proceed
    Read More

Highlighted Content