Why the UK is winning the driverless car race

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are transforming mobility as we know it. Not only improving road safety and reducing carbon emissions – but ramping up productivity rates in the long term.

To date, the U.S. has dominated the headlines in this space. We’re seeing big Silicon Valley players investing billions of dollars into their respective AV programmes.

But it’s really the developments in the UK that deserve more screen time. As a region, we’re facing very different and arguably more complex technical challenges compared to our stateside counterparts.

Our historic city centres and rural villages are paved with winding, narrow roads that are tricky to navigate. The straightforward grid systems common in the US are few and far between in the UK. This will put innovators here at a unique advantage as the global AV race ramps up. 

Complex conditions require cutting-edge tech

As an offshoot to the internationally renowned University of Oxford Robotics Institute, Oxbotica’s heritage and globally renowned application have enabled us to attract some of the world’s best autonomy minds to the UK. Aside from unpredictable weather conditions, the small issue of Britain’s roads being designed for horse and carriage makes safe and fully functioning AVs extremely difficult to deploy.

But thanks to our team’s technical expertise, we’ve been able to effectively tackle this unique terrain. We’ve developed robust algorithms in localisation, perception and planning which form our Universal Autonomy software. Our technology is capable of being deployed at any time, in any vehicle and in any environment – both in the UK and globally. From mines to warehouses to airports to busy urban streets, our AVs can handle it all.

The UK is shaping the next chapter of AV tech

This innovation, along with Government funding and pragmatic collaboration, has given the UK strong foundations in AV technology, which continue to be built upon.

DRIVEN, a project focused on insuring, ensuring and exporting fleet wide Level 4 connected autonomy, is a prime example of the UK’s thriving autonomy ecosystem. The project has received an £8.6 million grant from government body Innovate UK and has brought Oxbotica together with leading industry names including AXA XL, Nominet and Telefonica O2 UK.

Another pioneering autonomy project that Oxbotica will be part of next year, is called Endeavour. Endeavour will explore how fleets of shared autonomous vehicles could fill mobility gaps between people’s homes and public transport hubs, building on the MERGE Greenwich project led by Addison Lee. This will be Europe’s largest pilot of self-driven passenger services, showcasing the UK’s continuing innovation in the autonomy space. 

UK AV players are ready to scale

United by our vision of universal autonomy, we continue to pursue opportunities around the globe where we deploy our software to transform industries across different territories. Oxbotica has already delivered projects with customers in Japan, Singapore, USA, and across Europe. So, this is familiar territory for us.

As we move into our next phase of commercial expansion, we’re committed to supporting our global customers across their global operations. We are continuously looking for new and exciting talent to enable us to continue to service these developing partnerships – and to scale both technically and operationally.

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