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

  • Connected vehicle trials get big backing from USDOT
    March 14, 2016
    Connected vehicle technology will emerge as a sustainable reality at three sites in the US over the next four years. Jon Masters reports. Advocates of connected vehicle (CV) technology have received a welcome boost from news that the US government has committed a further $4 billion towards automated vehicle research and CV technology. This comes hot on the heels of the US Department of Transportation’s $42 million CV pilot pledge in October last year.
    Read More
  • Autonomous vehicles, smart cities: moving beyond the hype
    February 21, 2018
    There is a lot of excited chatter about autonomous vehicles – but 2getthere’s Robbert Lohmann suggests we might need to take a step back and look realistically at what is achievable. You might be surprised that the chief commercial officer of a company delivering autonomous vehicles would begin an article with the suggestion that we need to get past the hype. And yet I do; because we have to, and urgently so. The hype prevents the development of autonomous vehicles that address actual transit needs. And
    Read More
  • How the metaverse will transform the future of mobility
    March 15, 2023
    Digital development has never been as rapid and disruptive as it is today. The metaverse and technologies such as AR and MR will transform our lives and businesses - including transport planning and shaping the mobility ecosystem, says Christian Haas of UMovity
    Read More
  • Addison Lee and Oxbotica to implement AV services in London by 2021
    October 23, 2018
    Addison Lee has partnered with self-driving vehicle software company Oxbotica in a bid to bring autonomous ride-sharing services to London by 2021. Addison Lee, a UK private taxi hire firm, says it will also explore opportunities to provide corporate shuttles, airport and campus-based services. Andy Boland, CEO of Addison Lee, says: “By providing ride-sharing services, we can help address congestion, free space used for parking and improve urban air quality through zero-emission vehicles.” The partners
    Read More

Highlighted Content