An autonomous Range
Rover Sport has completed a lap of one of the UK’s most challenging roads, the
Coventry Ring Road. There was no input whatsoever from the driver. You may see
a man in the driver’s seat, but he was there for legal reasons only. The
prototype self-driving Range Rover Sport managed to do without his help and
successfully changed lanes, exited junctions and merged with traffic while
obeying the speed limit of 64 km/h.
Why the Coventry
Ring Road, you ask? Mark Cund, Jaguar Land Rover Autonomous Vehicle Research
Manager, explains: “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.”
The successful
self-driving attempt, which you can watch in the video posted below, is part of
a £ 20 million (US$ 26.3 million) UK Autodrive government-funded project. Ending
this month after a three-year program, the project allowed JLR engineers to
complete self-driving technology testing on closed tracks before using public
roads in Milton Keynes and Coventry.
Besides
factory-installed features such as Adaptive Cruise Control, the Range Rover
Sport prototype was fitted with navigation sensors, RADAR and LIDAR. Thanks to
those systems, the SUV is able to handle roundabouts, traffic lights,
pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles on complicated roads. In addition, it
can also park itself.
Jaguar Land Rover
plans to offer self-driving cars to customers within 10 years.
