The roads in United Kingdom may soon be seeing self-driving pod cars as the government’s Transport Systems Catapult Autodrive project has already started trials for them. Currently, there are three self-driving pod cars being tested in the city center of Milton Keynes. These cars are traveling on designated routes for now, but will soon hit the public roads and pedestrian zones.
The self-driving pod cars are dubbed as LUTZ Pathfinders and were developed by a Coventry based engineering group, RDM. They are electrically powered, feature only two seats and are equipped with sensors, cameras and detailed maps for autonomous driving. Moreover, they also feature a complex software program, known as Selenium, which was developed by University of Oxford’s Mobile Robotics Group. These cars are capable of attaining a maximum speed of 15 mph; however, they are mostly driven at a slow speed.
Although, the autonomous pod cars have a steering wheel and pedals as well as a supervisor who will take control of the car in case things go out of hand, but the main aim is to make them fully autonomous.
Other automakers around the globe are also investing to build self-driving cars, as they are considered to be more safe compared to traditional cars.
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