An autonomous vehicle development center located in the UK and known as Assured CAV is nearing completion.
Developed by specialist Horiba Mira, it has been specifically designed to enable the automotive industry, policymakers and government to develop autonomous vehicle technology, across a wide range of conditions, before being released to consumers.
The facility, near Nuneaton in the UK Midlands, includes a high-speed track so that autonomous vehicles can be tested at the limit of controllability. Specifically designed for performing scenario-based testing, the facility will enable the testing of driving scenarios such as traffic merging and lane keep assist to be conducted to international regulatory protocols
It will also feature urban environments where vehicles will experience pedestrians and cyclists, as well as robotic targets and complex junctions, and on-street parking and a purpose-built multistory parking facility (below) will support the development of automated valet parking. Meanwhile, a 5G network will cater for V2V and V2I communication.
Declan Allen, managing director at Horiba Mira, commented, “We’ve been on a journey to create Assured CAV. It represents many years of intense research and investment to bring together one of the most comprehensive CAV validation ecosystems in the world. At a time when the automotive industry is facing significant headwinds, we’ve been steadfast in our approach to delivering this investment and we’re extremely proud to provide an ecosystem that will allow the automotive industry, as well as complementary industries, to develop and prove their self-driving technology. This is a unique opportunity for companies to accelerate their activities to lead the industry. It will allow companies to bring forward their activities in this sector in an efficient and optimized manner, enabling them to solve the real-world problems of integrating their automated products into the public roads, while also, importantly, achieving consumer acceptance.”
