WMG to scan Coventry’s roads for driverless pod trial

Driverless pods are to be put through their paces on a simulated version of Coventry, as part of efforts to introduce autonomous vehicles to the UK.

Researchers at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at Warwick University will use a lIDAR scan - a high resolution laser scan – of 30 miles of Coventry’s roads to test the driverless pods.

The project, known as INnovative Testing of Autonomous Control Techniques (INTACT), will trial vehicles developed by Coventry-based automotive innovation specialists RDM, the only manufacturer of driverless pods in the UK.

The project, funded by Innovate UK, will allow the research team to analyse how driverless vehicles will react to real world conditions, before they are deployed on the roads, according to Prof Paul Jennings of WMG.

“There is a lot you can learn in real-world trials, which are hugely valuable, but we would like to focus on the most interesting parts of these trials, and be able to repeat them in a safe and controlled environment,” he said.