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A self-drive car has been given a test run this week, giving drivers a glimpse of the future of personal travel.
An adapted Nissan Leaf electric car was run in the Oxford University RobotCar UK project’s ‘auto drive enabled’ mode, meaning it was able to ‘drive itself’ for part of the journey.
The car was controlled via an iPad on the dashboard, which flashed up prompts offering the driver the option to either drive the car, or allow the vehicle to take over. At any time, the driver could return control by tapping the brake pedal.
The engineers and researchers behind the project are aiming to produce a low-cost system that ‘takes the strain’ off drivers during morning commutes or school runs.
Although Google has been extensively testing self-drive cars in the US, the team at Oxford University believes its ‘low-cost navigation system’ represents a milestone.
Until the car can hit the highway, the team is testing it out in a specially-made environment at Begbroke Science Park.
The system recognises its surroundings using a series of small cameras and lasers mounted discreetly into the body of the adapted electric road car and linked to a computer in the boot.
The technology allows the car to take over when driving on routes it has already travelled, gaining ‘experiences’ as it goes and building a 3D model of its environment.
Professor Paul Newman of Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science said: “We are working on a low-cost ‘auto drive’ navigation system, that doesn’t depend on GPS, done with discreet sensors that are getting cheaper all the time. It’s easy to imagine that this kind of technology could be in a car you could buy.
“Instead of imagining some cars driving themselves all of the time we should imagine a time when all cars can drive themselves some of the time. The sort of very low-cost, low-footprint autonomy we are developing is what’s needed for everyday use.”
Similar autonomous technology has already been intergraded into production road cars, such as park assist, which parallel parks the car for you.
“Our approach is made possible because of advances in 3D laser mapping that enable an affordable car-based robotic system to rapidly build up a detailed picture of its surroundings,” added Professor Newman.
The current Oxford University prototype equipment is estimated to cost around £5,000, but the team’s long-term goal is to make it available for around £100.
