This addition to the Midlands Future Mobility project will enable connected and autonomous vehicle technologies – that have been developed using simulation and test tracks – to then be evaluated on roads in real-world driving situations, providing invaluable additional learning that will enable them to become a commercially viable and desirable means of road-transport.
WMG’s Professor Paul Jennings, and lead of the Midlands Future Mobility project said: “The development and deployment of CAVs (connected and autonomous vehicles) is led by the desire of both policy makers and the public to make transportation safer and more efficient. Innovative technology will create business opportunities for many industry sectors, including automotive, wireless communications, infrastructure and transportation.”
The evaluations will not just be on the vehicle and infrastructure technologies, but also on how the technology can be used and developed to bring new and enhanced services to drivers and passengers, and to enable such vehicles to provide a range of new services to communities and business.
The Meridian 3 programme extends CAV testing from urban areas to include rural and highway environments, both of which will provide new opportunities for future CAV deployment and adoption.
“This is great news for the UK.Leading technology businesses from Japan, Germany and Spain, alongside home-grown innovators, are all investing significant sums in the UK to accelerate development of self-driving technologies” said Daniel Ruiz, CEO of Meridian. “Their business decisions are an endorsement of our capabilities in this globally competitive sector. We’ve got the talent, the tools, strong government support and a highly collaborative culture; and these are consolidating our world leading position at this stage of the transport revolution.”
