Autonomous rings round Coventry
A Range Rover Sport has completed the first self-driving lap on the Coventry Ring Road.
A prototype self-driving Range Rover Sport handled the complex Coventry Ring Road, successfully changing lanes, merging with traffic and exiting junctions at the speed limit of 40mph.
The trial is part of the £20m government-funded project, UK Autodrive, which ends this month after a three-year programme. Jaguar Land Rover engineers have completed significant self-driving technology testing on closed tracks before heading onto public roads in Milton Keynes and Coventry.
The Range Rover Sport has been modified to include additional navigation sensors, RADAR and LIDAR. Coupled with the UK Autodrive research, the vehicle can autonomously handle roundabouts, traffic lights, pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles on complicated roads. It can also park itself.
Mark Cund, Jaguar Land Rover autonomous vehicle research manager, said, ‘The Coventry Ring Road is known for its complicated slip roads and exits. It makes for very challenging conditions, especially when under pressure in the rush hour.
‘Our self-driving car is not impacted by the same pressure, frustrations or fatigue that a driver may experience and so it’s capable of turning a potentially very stressful situation into a completely stress-free one.’
