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Semi-autonomous truck convoys due to hit UK roads next year
Convoys of semi-autonomous trucks are expected to be tested on public roads in the UK before the end of next year, the government announced today. The Department for Transport and Highways England have rustled up £8.1 million in funding between them to pass on to the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), the independent organisation that'll conduct the trials. TRL will start with simulation studies and driver training before moving onto a test track and finally, public roads by the end of 2018.
Ocado's driverless delivery van is a glimpse of the future
Filmers and photographers line the street, their fingers hovering over camera shutter buttons. "Any second now," an engineer mutters nearby, eyes glued to a smartphone screen tracking the truck's location. The group collectively takes a deep breath and then, suddenly, the CargoPod glides into view. It rounds the corner silently before drifting up an empty boulevard and into a nearby side-street. The van's arrival is, to be honest, a little anticlimactic. With its small cockpit and large, boxy back, it resembles a milk float from the early 1960s, rather than a cutting-edge piece of autonomous transportation. Still, looks can be deceiving.
Put your name down for London's driverless pod trials
Driverless pods are headed to the London borough of Greenwich, and the public is invited to sit inside and experience the technology first hand. The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) opened sign-ups today for the first public trials, which will take place inside its UK Smart Mobility Living Lab -- a test area that covers the entire borough. The exact routes are still being finalised, but the focus will be around the Greenwich peninsula, in places where the pods are likely to encounter cyclists and pedestrians. We don't know when the trials will start, however, beyond "later this year."
