Did you say autonomous car trials? After the horrible traffic-filled week I’ve had, sign me up! (Insert sleeping emoji here.)
Automakers of the world are making a big push towards driverless vehicles, and although trials have been underway in many areas, this is the largest area yet.
And did I mention they’re letting common people like you and me in on it? Greenwich is getting in on the trial action, and they’re allowing the general public to be Guinea pigs, all in an effort to find out how we feel about relinquishing (almost) complete control to the vehicle.
The UK Smart Mobility Living Lab @ Greenwich is conducting the trials, led by United Kingdom’s Transport Research Laboratory. Typically, trials are limited to scientists and engineers, but this trial will be different. Now, the public can ride in a driverless pod and give feedback on their experience.
The study is being conducted to gain insight into how people feel the move towards fully autonomous cars will impact the area through the trials, a public workshop, and an online GATEway driverless map, which analyzes opinions and feelings about driverless vehicles trial in Greenwich.
Professor Nick Reed, director at the UK TRL and Technical Lead of the GATEway project believes that “testing these vehicles in a living environment takes the concept from fiction to reality.” He says it gives the general public a “chance to experience what it’s like to ride in an automated vehicle and to make their own mind up as to how much they like it, trust it and could accept it as a service in the city.”
The vehicles aren’t what you’d typically think of when someone says “car,” they’re actually driverless pods, based on the Ultra Pods that have been riding around Heathrow on tracks. And they’re definitely not just setting them free. The pods are manually driven to the starting point, and once the route is mapped out, they will then navigate around the area using its on-board technology, including lasers, sensors, cameras and software. And don’t get too comfortable just yet, as you’ll have a friend (aka operator) on board in case things go awry.