Photo: Nissan
Autonomous vehicle trials underway on London streets
23 February 2022
by Christopher Carey
After months of development, simulation and testing on private tracks, ServCity – a UK government-funded autonomous vehicle (AV) research project – has started real-world trials on London streets.
The trials are centred around the Smart Mobility Living Lab in Greenwich and will gather data and test vehicle performance.
Over the next three years, six partners – Nissan, TRL, Hitachi Europe, the University of Nottingham, SBD Automotive and UK government agency Connected Places Catapult– will work together to develop a blueprint for the deployment of AVs in UK cities.
“The Connected Places Catapult supports organisations in harnessing emerging technologies and developing new services,” said Edward Mayo, Programme Manager, Connected Places Catapult.
“ServCity is a perfect example of how we can use this approach to deploy autonomous vehicles on a wide scale to achieve the aim of intelligent mobility and improve the movement of both people and goods. The commencement of testing in London represents an important milestone to the ServCity project.”
Future mobility
The trials will see six Nissan Leaf AVs – each manned by a safety driver – navigate Greenwich streets during daylight hours.
The project received approximately £10 million (US$13.5 million) from the UK Government’s £100 million Intelligent Mobility Fund, as well as “significant contributions” from the private sector, and is set to run until March 2023.
Through a combination of test simulation, end-user experience research and real-world trials, ServCity will inform how cities can exploit the potential of future mobility solutions and accelerate their deployment.
Concentrating on the three key areas of technology, people and scalability, the project aims to ensure the user experience is as “intuitive, inclusive and engaging” as possible.
Nick Blake, Chief Innovation Strategist, Hitachi Europe, said: “The team at Hitachi’s European Research & Development Group is focused on tackling the complex technical challenges involved in autonomous driving in congested urban environments.
“Our role in the ServCity project is to develop the technology behind predicting – and safely responding to – other moving objects such as pedestrians, cyclists and cars, as well as delivering accurate and robust localisation solutions.”
Image: Nissan
