Skip to main content

Nissan to lead human driving style AV project in the UK

Nissan’s European Technical Centre will lead a 30-month Autonomous Vehicle trial on UK country roads, high speed roundabouts, A-Roads and motorways with live traffic and different environmental conditions. Called the HumanDrive project, it will also emulate a natural human driving style with the intention of providing an enhanced experience for its occupants. The artificial driver model that controls perception and decision making will pilot the vehicle, and will be developed using artificial intelligence
February 2, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

838 Nissan’s European Technical Centre will lead a 30-month Autonomous Vehicle trial on UK country roads, high speed roundabouts, A-Roads and motorways with live traffic and different environmental conditions. Called the HumanDrive project, it will also emulate a natural human driving style with the intention of providing an enhanced experience for its occupants.

The artificial driver model that controls perception and decision making will pilot the vehicle, and will be developed using artificial intelligence technologies. The system will be subjected to testing using a range of facilities including, simulation, hardware in the loop, private test track and small sections of public roads before its full deployment.

HumanDrie is subsidized by the government’s £100m ($142m) intelligent mobility fund, which is administered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and delivered by Innovate UK. It is also partly funded by industry.

In addition, the study will draw on the expertise from a range of organisations such as Hitachi and Transport Systems Catapult as well as Cranfield University, University of Leeds, Horiba Mira, Atkins, Aimsum, Sbd Automotive and Highways England.

Greg Clark, business and energy secretary, said: “Low carbon and self-driving vehicles are the future and they are going to drive forward a global revolution in mobility. This revolution has the potential to be worth £52bn [$73bn] to our economy by 2035 and the opportunity to be at the forefront of this change is one we cannot afford to miss.

“Through our Industrial Strategy and the Automotive Sector Deal investment in the development of driverless technology we are committed to working with industry to seize these opportunities. Trailblazing projects like the HumanDrive project will play a vital role helping us deliver on that ambition, with UK businesses and research institutions working with partners from around the world on the disruptive technologies and services of the future.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Highways England tests ghost busters
    January 25, 2021
    Getting rid of misleading or confusing road markings will be vital for safe AV operation
  • UK government gets future mobility challenge underway
    August 2, 2018
    The UK government has unveiled plans under its Future of Mobility Grand Challenge which could change how people, goods and services move around the country. These initiatives have been outlined in the Last Mile and Future of mobility call for evidence, which provide an insight into how technology could make transport safer, more accessible and greener. Under the plans, electric cargo bikes, vans, quadricycles and micro vehicles could replace vans in UK cities as part of a strategy to change last-mile
  • Government green lights road and rail improvements
    July 19, 2013
    UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has confirmed a £1.2 billion order for more state of-the art trains to transform rail travel on one of Britain’s busiest intercity routes. The 270 carriages will be manufactured in Britain by Hitachi Rail Europe as part of the government’s overall £5.8 billion Intercity Express Programme (IEP). The trains will operate on the East Coast Main Line from 2019 and will deliver significant benefits to passengers, including boosting capacity by 18 per cent, improving trai
  • ITSWC 2020 - LA, here we come!
    November 26, 2019
    Planning for next year’s 27th ITS World Congress in Los Angeles is well under way. ITS America president Shailen Bhatt explains what visitors can expect from the 2020 event...