Zenzic, the organisation dedicated to accelerating the self-driving revolution in the UK, has announced the launch of a V2X project, which is led by Commsignia and in partnership with CAM Testbed UK partners.
Working with technology companies Vodafone and Nokia, the project aims to assess the current “state of play” across the UK vehicle-to-everything (V2X) landscape and deploy a pilot installation across CAM Testbed UK. The aim is to deliver a reliable, trusted and secure service which is scalable for end-to-end trials and testing of initial V2X services.
Although fully automated vehicles and associated services are now beginning to emerge in the UK, there has been an increase in the volume of connected vehicles on roads in the UK. The UK transport sector has reached a critical moment in the enabling of connected car services and whilst the discussion on V2X in the UK is increasing, there is still work to be done on the required development and services that are needed to realise its value. The collaboration and co-ordination between road operators, mobile network operators and vehicle OEMs will be necessary for V2X services to move towards deployment.
The project, which is funded by the government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and coordinated by Zenzic, will be led by Commsignia and will bring together UK expertise in V2X services. Partners include UTAC Millbrook and Horiba MIRA, both members of the world-leading CAM Testbed UK as well as Vodafone. This collaboration will see the development of the training and skills map that is needed for this emerging sector whilst using CAM Testbed UK as facilitators.
“Commsignia is excited to be bringing its decade long experience in V2X technologies to UK off road test facilities allowing vehicle manufactures and road operators to test an ever-growing number of V2X safety use cases,” says Commsignia CEO Laszlo Virag. “We are positive that this project will pave the way for leveraging vehicle communication technology that allows making roads safer.”
Peter Stoker, chief engineer, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles at UTAC said: “We are delighted to be part of this multi sector group to look at and implement V2X services at our location and to other sites. It will inform policy and technology choices for the future in having a controlled network where all comers can trial, assess and sometimes fail in private before public deployment.”
“Vodafone is delighted to be delivering our world leading mobility cloud capability to the UK CAM test bed initiative to improve road safety,” says Luke Ibbetson, head of group R&D for Vodafone Technology. “Many organisations, including vehicle manufacturers and road operators, will benefit from advanced connected mobility services using our highly responsive edge cloud infrastructure.”
“V2X connectivity will transform mobility services but we need to validate them to ensure they perform robustly and are safe and secure,” says Chris Reeves, head of CAV Technologies at Horiba Mira. “The knowhow developed during this project will be integrated into ASSURED CAV and delivered as a portfolio of connectivity services to our clients.”
The project aims to deliver a reliable, trusted and secure service which is scalable for end-to-end trials and testing of initial V2X services by March 2022.
