ServCity project.supported by the UK government, is designed to accelerate the development of futures robot taxi services in English cities. The project lasted 3 years, and more than 1600 km were covered by unmanned vehicles. Partners of this project nissanwhich made its Leaf suitably modified to integrate autonomous driving technologies.
Nissan electric car has been adapted receive data and information Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) in Greenwich. Using sensors located along the roads and a data processing system, SMLL allows the car to know what is happening around it and adjust accordingly.
For example,road infrastructure he can identify problems and criticalities of the road system outside the vehicle’s field of vision, for subsequent report them to the vehicle for the autonomous driving system to take an alternative route or avoid an obstacle. Thanks to this project, it became possible to study and develop a robotic taxi service for residents and passengers. Thus, ServCity, like other similar projects of the British government, served to demonstrate the benefits of unmanned vehicles.
Thus, over the three years of the project, six partners (Nissan, Connected Places Catapult, TRL, Hitachi Europe, University of Nottingham and SBD Automotive) have developed a framework that will help manufacturers, transport service providers and urban planners implement self-driving car service projects in UK cities.
ServCity is not the first project the UK government has funded to develop autonomous driving. In this regard, one cannot fail to mention the Grand Drive project, which confirmed the possibility of using autonomous driving on long journeys. In this case, the Leaf traveled 230 miles (about 370 km) from the Nissan Technical Center in Cranfield, Bedfordshire to the Sunderland plant. The car was equipped with GPS, radar, lidar and video cameras, with the help of which the on-board system could get a complete picture of the space around the car and, therefore, decide how to overcome roads and obstacles on the way. Robert Bateman Nissan, the ServCity project commented:
At ServCity, in addition to providing the all-electric Nissan LEAF as a test vehicle, we have contributed to the research and development of advanced autonomous driving technologies. The car, connected to the city’s infrastructure, has passed all the tests on the busy streets of London. With more than 115 employees and nearly 16,000 workdays, ServCity is a major step forward for the spread of autonomous driving.
British Minister for Transport, Jesse Normanhe added:
The government has invested £7 million in this project to focus on innovation. ServCity has proven to be effective in understanding how to effectively integrate self-driving vehicles into cities for the public good.
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Source: HD Motori
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.