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Tata, JLR, Ford partner to test autonomous vehicles in the UK

Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) has partnered with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Ford for autonomous vehicle trials in the UK. The trials are being held as part of the UK Autodrive project on the streets of Coventry, UK.

A wide range of connected car features will be put through real world tests during the trials that are scheduled to take place early next year in Coventry and Milton Keynes in the UK. Open road demonstrations are also planned during the second half of 2018. Production cars from all three brands have been retrofitted with the required sensors, which include a Tata Hexa, a Range Rover Sport and a Ford Mondeo.

A wide range of connected car features will be testing during the trials. These include collaborative parking which sends real-time parking information and emergency vehicle warning (EVW) which sends a signal to nearby connected cars, warning the driver of an approaching emergency vehicle. The intersection collision warning (ICW) warns the driver when it is unsafe to enter an intersection, while intersection priority management (IPM) assigns priority when two or more connected vehicles approach an intersection where there are no traffic lights or priority signs.

In-vehicle signage (IVS) is a feature which sends information about road conditions, traffic or other incidents on to an in-car display. In addition to this, green light optimal speed advisory (GLOSA) sends traffic light information to the car and calculates the optimal speed for approaching a set of traffic lights. This system could reduce the number of traffic stops and could potentially improve traffic flow.

Finally, road trials of electronic emergency brake light (EEBL) are also scheduled. This system alerts the driver when a vehicle in front applies its brakes, especially when it is difficult to spot the vehicle during adverse weather conditions when visibility would be low. The system can also warn the driver if a vehicle in front of the queue brakes suddenly.

 
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