Skip to main content

TRL to contribute to new autonomous vehicle research programme

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) the, has announced it is part of a new US$17 million five-year research programme to develop fully autonomous cars. The programme, jointly funded by Jaguar Land Rover and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will look at some key technologies and questions that need to be addressed before driverless cars can be allowed on the roads without jeopardising the safety of other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians. TRL is the on
October 23, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSThe UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL) the, has announced it is part of a new US$17 million five-year research programme to develop fully autonomous cars. The programme, jointly funded by 7998 Jaguar Land Rover and the 2220 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will look at some key technologies and questions that need to be addressed before driverless cars can be allowed on the roads without jeopardising the safety of other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians.

TRL is the only non-university research institute involved in the programme and will work alongside the University of Surrey, Warwick University and Imperial College London on a project to understand how distributed control systems and cloud computing can be integrated with vehicles. The project, which will be led by Dr Mehrdad Dianati from the University of Surrey, aims to design and validate a novel, Secure Cloud-based Distributed Control (SCDC) framework for connected and autonomous cars.

Alan Stevens, chief scientist at TRL commented; “The project will explore how increasingly automated and connected vehicles can operate safely and securely when connected to each other and, via the road infrastructure, to cloud-based resources. Ultimately the aim is to develop a secure framework that will enable the implementation of safe and robust semi-autonomous functions on future cars in the short term, and fully autonomous cars in the long term.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Infrastructure funding and road user charging – debate continues
    February 1, 2012
    Jack Opiola provides an overview of the ongoing debate over US infrastructure funding and the progress – or lack of it – towards vehicles miles travelled road user charging. The future funding of transportation and mobility infrastructure is attracting increased attention. There has been sharp debate in the US, where landmark reports from the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission both stated that the cu
  • Bluetooth and Wi-Fi offer new options for travel time measurements
    November 20, 2013
    New trials show Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals can be reliably used for measuring travel times and at a lower cost than an ANPR system, but which is the better proposition depends on many factors. Measuring travel times has traditionally relied automatic number plate (or licence plate) recognition (ANPR/ALPR) cameras capturing the progress of vehicles travelling along a pre-defined route. Such systems also have the benefit of being able to count passing traffic and have become a vital tool in dealing with c
  • Russia looks to ITS to curb congestion and reduce accidents
    May 7, 2015
    Major ITS installations are planned as the Russian capital Moscow grapples with extensive traffic problems. At the end of 2014, Russia’s first complex intelligent transport system (ITS) started easing traffic problems in and around the capital Moscow, following the implementation of the plans by the federal government and the city’s authorities.
  • Ertico coordinates big data debate
    November 2, 2016
    David Crawford finds that agreeing a common data standard for auto manufacturers’ onboard sensors, navigation system companies and map makers is proving a complex task.