Transformational investment in off-road self-driving technology

26 Feb 2018 02:24 PM

Automotive Minister Richard Harrington announces Industrial Strategy funding for off-road self-driving vehicles which could revolutionise the mining and construction sectors.

• 22 connected and autonomous vehicle (CAVs) R&D projects will share funding to boost the UK’s leadership in disruptive technologies and services which will shape the future of transport
• a central part of the government’s Industrial Strategy, the successful projects include the development of off-road autonomous technology that will look to improve productivity in industries such as mining and construction
• the £22.4 million investment will bring the total number of government funded R&D projects in self-driving vehicles to 73, in a portfolio worth around £180 million with over £120 million of government grants.

Off-road autonomous vehicles that will operate in some of the most extreme environments and could revolutionise productivity in the construction and mining industries is just one of the projects supported by government in the latest round of autonomous vehicle funding.

Automotive Minister Richard Harrington has announced a total of 22 projects that will be supported through the latest round of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) funding, including projects from sector-leading companies such as Jaguar Land Rover and Caterpillar.

The £22.4 million of government funding will also be used on projects to develop technology that will allow self-driving vehicles to function in situations where weather visibility is so poor human drivers would struggle to navigate, while other projects will look to trial autonomous ‘Mobility as a Service’ (Maas) services in London, Cambridge and Didcot.

The funding builds on the government’s Industrial Strategy commitment to ensure the UK is a world-leader in new technologies that will boost our competitiveness, and is a central part of our Future of Mobility Grand Challenge which includes a commitment to have fully self-driving vehicles on UK roads by 2021.

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