Self-drive cars put to the test
While we tend to think of the future of autonomous vehicles as being firmly on the road, Land Rover has set its sights further off the beaten track. Which is what you would probably expect from a legendary off-road specialist.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has unveiled a multi-million-dollar autonomous all-terrain driving research project that it says ‘‘aims to make the self-driving car viable in the widest range of real life, on and off-road driving environments and weather conditions’’.
JLR’s head of research Tony Harper says that the technology the company is developing, such as the ability of on-board computers to sense changes in terrain and even obstacles suspended in the air above roadways and tracks, would have applications for both autonomous and people-driven cars.
‘‘Our all-terrain autonomy research isn’t just about the car driving itself on a motorway or in extreme off-road situations. It’s about helping both the driven and autonomous car make their way safely through any terrain or driving situation.’’
Among the next-generation technologies being developed by JLR are surface identification and 3D path-sensing research that combines camera, ultrasonic, radar and LIDAR sensors to give the car a 360-degree view of the world around it, with sensors so advanced that the car could determine surface characteristics, down to the width of a tyre (even in rain and falling snow) to plan its route.