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Project Endeavour autonomous vehicle trials in Birmingham have begun
23 June 2021
Project Endeavour, the UK’s first government-funded mobility research project for the demonstration of autonomous vehicles, has begun trials in Birmingham, following successful trials in Oxford.
A professional safety driver will be present in the autonomous vehicles during these trials and will be capable of resuming control in the event of an emergency.
The project’s final demonstration event will take place in Greenwich in August 2021.
A fleet of four vehicles will participate in the trial, fitted with Oxbotica’s autonomy software platform, integrated with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), radar and stereo cameras.
The Birmingham trials will run over the course of several weeks, exposing the autonomous vehicles to various traffic and weather conditions.
Senior vice president at Oxbotica and director of Project Endeavour Dr Graeme Smith said, “Project Endeavour is a one-of-a-kind research project that is allowing us to learn about the challenges of deploying autonomous vehicles in multiple cities across the UK – a key part of being able to deploy services safely and at scale.
“This stage of the mobility project is a new step for us, as Birmingham hosts our fleet of autonomous vehicles for the first time in real-life environments, and there has been a huge amount of enthusiasm from the local authority in the UK’s second largest city ahead of the deployment. So far, Project Endeavour has been a real collaborative effort, bringing everyone into the discussion: from local authorities, to road safety groups, transport providers, and, most importantly, the general public.”
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