Move_UK develop new validation method to speed up AV deployment

Move_UK has completed the first phase of its three-year research programme for the real-world testing of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the borough of Greenwich, London. The project has enabled the company to develop a new validation method to reduce the time taken to test automated driving systems and bring them to market.

The project’s data is gathered from sensors installed on a fleet of 7999 Land Rover vehicles that have already completed more than 30, 000 miles on public roads in Greenwich by council workers from their fleet services department. As part of the validation method, data is selected and recorded which helps to reduce the total volume of data collected and speed up validation of the automated driving functions in the real world. The data is automatically transferred to a central cloud, allowing researchers to analyse it remotely. Consortium partners assess how automated driving functions respond, helping to ensure that future AVs drive in a natural way and retain the characteristics of a good driver.

Business and energy secretary Greg Clark said: “Low carbon and self-driving vehicles are the future and the UK is determined to be one of the leaders in this technological revolution. Through our Industrial Strategy, the Government is laying the foundations to ensure the UK seizes the opportunities presented by the development of our next generation of vehicles.

“Government investment, through our Intelligent Mobility Fund, in the MOVE_UK programme is helping deliver this pioneering research into the ‘real world’ application of this technology. It is a collaboration between Government and industry that is building our expertise and reputation in self-driving technology and support our clean growth, low-carbon agenda.”

Richard Cuerden, academy director at 491 TRL commented: “The completion of the first phase of the project brings us another step closer to seeing autonomous vehicles on UK roads. Through MOVE_UK we can compare the behaviour of the automated driving systems with the behaviour of human drivers, which, in turn, will help to improve the safety and validation of automation systems.”