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A Nissan-led car project is bringing autonomy to UK roads

Posted: 1 February 2018 | | No comments yet

Seeking to enhance natural human driving in an autonomous car, the HumanDrive project will be put to the test…

A Nissan led car project is bringing autonomy to UK roads

Led by Nissan’s European Technical Centre, a 30-month autonomous vehicle project, the HumanDrive project, will be tested in a variety of UK driving scenarios.

As part of Renault-Nissan Alliance research, the HumanDrive project will be expected to handle country roads, high speed roundabouts, A-roads and motorways in live traffic whilst emulating a natural human driving style.

This is the most complex journey given to an autonomous vehicle in the UK and so the project is drawing on the expertise of many organisations, including Hitachi, Transport Systems Catapult, Atkins and SBD Automotive.

The HumanDrive project is attempting to develop autonomous technology whilst maintaining comfort, adaptability and assurance for the passenger.

“Low carbon and self-driving vehicles are the future and they are going to drive forward a global revolution in mobility,” said Greg Clark, Business and Energy Secretary. “This revolution has the potential to be worth £52 billion to our economy by 2035 and the opportunity to be at the forefront of this change is one we cannot afford to miss.

Developed using the latest artificial intelligence technologies, the artificial driver model which pilots the vehicle will be controlling perception and decision making. Before being introduced to the UK roads the system will be developed and tested further using a range of facilities including simulation, hardware in the loop and private test tracks.

“This pioneering project will considerably enhance the experience of drivers who use future autonomous vehicles. We’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of the capability of machine learning and AI in driving,” said Mark Westwood, Transport Systems Catapult, Chief Technology Officer. “The HumanDrive project further reinforces the UK’s commitment to be at the forefront of future mobility and as a world leader in R&D.”

HumanDrive is jointly funded by government and industry. The government’s £100 million Intelligent Mobility fund is administered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and delivered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

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