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
March 9, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

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 controls.

Fusion Processing’s automation system provides control and its Cavstar software combines GPS with radar and lidar to help the pods safely negotiate objects in their path. The technology is also said to enable the vehicles to operate in adverse weather conditions and in the dark.

A safety steward will remain on-board throughout the test to comply with the UK’s code of practice on autonomous vehicle testing.

Richard Cuerden, academy director, TRL, said: “As we explore the future of mobility solutions, it is essential that we consider the experience and benefits delivered to the consumer. This is why understanding and exploring the public perception of automated services has always been at the heart of the Gateway Project.

Related Content

  • SPONSORED CONTENT: Using AI to achieve real traffic intelligence
    June 3, 2020
    The application of artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the performance of vision-based systems used for a wide and growing set of applications. These include vehicle presence detection and identification, count and classification, and enforcement, explains Roy Czinku of International Road Dynamics
    Read More
  • Innovate UK to provide update on low emission trials at Microlise
    January 30, 2018
    Innovate UK will present an update on the £20m ($28m) government Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trials (LEFT) at the Microlise Transport Conference held in Coventry this May. The trials have deployed hydrogen dual-fuel vehicles, electric vans and trucks with the intention of encouraging the wide-spread introduction of low and zero emission vehicles to UK fleets.
    Read More
  • HMI commence third driverless vehicle trial at La Trobe University, Melbourne
    November 15, 2017
    HMI Technologies (HMI) has launched its third self-driving vehicle trial with a consortium of partners at La Trobe University, in Melbourne, Australia. The trial intends to further help authorities and commercial businesses to research the benefits and limitations of the technology, and identify how it will become part of the public transport network of tomorrow. The La Trobe Autonobus (LTA) will soon connect students and staff at the University campus to other transport network nodes such as trams and bus
    Read More
  • Infrastructure and the autonomous vehicle
    December 12, 2014
    Harold Worrall ponders the effect of autonomous vehicles on transportation infrastructure. For the last century the transportation industry has been focused on the supply of infrastructure to support the ever growing fleet of vehicles and the greater number of miles covered by each vehicle. Our focus has been planning, funding, designing, building and maintaining roadways. Politicians, engineers, planners, financial managers … all of us have had this focus. We have experienced demand growth since the first
    Read More

Highlighted Content