Celebrating excellence in automated mobility, in the UK and internationally, entries are open now for the inaugural Self-driving Industry Awards.
Presented by Cars of the Future, the Self-driving Industry Awards 2023 cover all aspects of this exciting and fast-growing ecosystem.
From impressive engineering and design developments, to essential work in areas such as insurance and public trust, peer recognition plays an important part, with all entrants nominating a self-driving Person of the Year and Vehicle of the Year.
A Self-driving Industry Awards spokesperson said: “If you’ve made a telling contribution to self-driving – launched the world’s best robotaxi or last-mile delivery robot, made a technological leap, or provided incredible thought leadership – then you should be entering these awards.”
The deadline for entries is 5pm UK-time on Friday 29 September 2023, with all shortlisted candidates receiving an invitation to the Awards ceremony in November.
We were alerted to Anne’s fantastic work by motoring journalist Quentin Willson, who highlighted her challenge to LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky to promote new (rather disturbing) research into soaring Atlantic surface temperatures. In June, she reposted Dr Matthias Standfest’s prediction that “hurricanes, wildfires, heatwaves and droughts will shape the news of the next months”.
Since then, we’ve seen the dire consequences of climate change from Athens to Texas, the go-ahead for more oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, and Labour blaming the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) for its by-election loss in Uxbridge. Oh, and July was officially the hottest month ever recorded on Earth.
NK: How did you come to specialise in carbon literacy?
AS: “Gosh, it has been quite a journey! I was a policy researcher at the AA in the 1990s, looking at things like car sharing and ways to encourage motorists to cycle. Then I was at Vodafone for a while. Then I was marketing manager at RingGo for many years, which included rolling-out anaward-winning emissions-based parking solution.
“In 2009, the Liberal Democrat-led council in Richmond made a commitment to reduce emissions, so we worked with them to introduce carbon metered parking, whereby the price varies according to the emissions emitted by the vehicle in question. It had a significant impact, encouraging a transfer to electric vehicles (even though they were much less developed than they are today), and reducing the unnecessary use of larger vehicles. The scheme went on to be rolled-out in Westminster, resulting in a 16% drop in the use of diesel vehicles virtually overnight.
“After stints at EV network Co Charger and traffic monitoring company VivaCity, about two years ago, I made a life changing decision. I was obviously aware of the science around climate change, so my daughter kept asking me what I was going to do about it. The answer was to train in carbon literacy and offer my services as a consultant in the transport arena. That’s Lead With Sustainability.”
NK: What does it involve and how’s it all going?
AS: “The feedback to date has been overwhelmingly positive. Most importantly, it is leading to actions, making a real difference. We encourage businesses to look at their emissions and see where they can cut them. What’s the point in making money, owning big houses and travelling the world if there’s nowhere for our children and grandchildren to live?
“As well as the climate emergency, there’s the practical day-to-day problem that much of our road network is constantly on the verge of gridlock. So, we push the move to electric and also the fact that we simply must reduce car use.
“Good public transport is part of the solution, as is active travel. We also look at smart city ideas like 15-minute neighbourhoods – having everything you need within easy reach. That involves tackling thorny issues such as car ownership and car sharing.
“First, there has to be the provision, and then you have to incentivise people to make the switch. For example, with separate lanes for multi-occupancy vehicles. If alternative modes are faster and cheaper then people will naturally change their behaviours.”
Lead With Sustainability carbon literacy training testimonial
NK: And what role can self-driving play?
AS: “Connectivity can bring about changes even before we get to the higher levels of driving automation. Software could give Mr Jones the option of picking up Mr Smith, who is just round the corner and going to the same place, and that choice could be incentivised.
“A potentially negative scenario with self-driving is you could have lots of empty vehicles driving around causing further congestion. That’s arguably worse than having a big SUV with only the driver in it, which, ridiculously, you still see all the time. The increasing size of luxury vehicles is another issue.
“In London, a high percentage of people have already given up their cars, because they’re so expensive and inefficient. I accept that step might be more difficult for others, such as those living in rural areas, due to the lack of a viable alternative. But sometimes all you need is a change in attitude. I live in a medium sized commuter town and I’ve given up my car. It’s easier for some than others though.
“We’re working with local authorities and businesses of all shapes and sizes to educate people about these issues, to raise awareness of UK and international climate policies, to make people realise they can change the world for the better by reducing greenhouse gases.
“Particularly within councils, we encourage people to break out of their silos. A major problem is that, very often, parking is still separate from air quality, which is separate from highways, with little discussion between these divisions.
“Without major changes in the way we live, we’re heading for some pretty hard times. Fortunately, cities such as Glasgow and Nottingham already have ambitious carbon zero targets. Evolving technologies like clean fuel buses, self-driving or otherwise, will be part of that. My aim is to motivate people to reduce emissions at a personal, community and business level. And, in the process, they’ll save money too.”
Lead With Sustainability transport factsheet- can self-driving help?
For further info, to download a free factsheet, or to book an online Carbon Literacy Training session, visit Leadwithsustainability.co.uk
Helix develops antennas and array systems to improve navigation precision and offer enhanced resilience against jamming and spoofing.
Shortlisted last year, Megasets has now successfully won backing to develop its AV synthetic datasets.
Reed Mobility, recognised as a Zenzic CAM Creator back in 2020 (along with a certain self-driving news source), is the independent expert consultancy on future mobility run by Dr Nick Reed.
Last but not least, Robotiz3d is developing robots with machine learning capabilities for road maintenance, particularly fixing potholes.
Robotiz3d self-driving pothole fixer
CAM innovation
A Zenzic statement read: “These pioneering companies have demonstrated remarkable potential in the field of connected and automated mobility (CAM), and we are excited to support their journey towards bringing their innovative solutions to the market.
“Their participation in the Zenzic CAM Scale-Up UK programme will provide them with unique opportunities to test and refine their products at the renowned CAM Testbed UK facilities, ensuring their solutions meet the highest standards of performance and safety.
“We eagerly anticipate witnessing the incredible progress and achievements of these selected start-ups and SMEs as they contribute to the self-driving revolution in the UK and beyond.”
With big-name corporate partners including Honda, Thales and Vodafone, their work will be celebrated at the showcase CAM Innovators event in March 2024 – you can read our review of this year’s event here.
MOVE, “The world’s most important urban mobility event”, returned to London last week with two action packed days at the ExCeL centre.
As well as moderating the software defined vehicle panel, and seeing a vast array of amazing new self-driving-related tech from established multinationals and innovative start-ups, it was my pleasure to host the morning session on the Autonomous Vehicles stage.
MOVE Pledge 2023
Let’s start with my #MOVE2023 pledge. The organisers ask all speakers to make “a concrete pledge towards safer, smarter and more sustainable mobility”, for which we can be held accountable at next year’s event. In this pre-event piece I mused that I might just repeat my pledge from last year. Actually, I didn’t.
My all-new MOVE pledge for this year is two-fold: To encourage people to read David Attenborough’s bestselling book – A Life on Our Planet – which is brilliant and quite scary; and to focus more on the environmental impacts of self-driving – an under-researched area with competing theories – some highly negative, some highly positive.
Neil Kennett #MOVE2023 self-driving pledge
It is designed to remind myself (and you) that it is up to us to bring about the changes essential to avert ecological disaster. Taking my own advice, I met up with Jessica Battle, senior expert in global ocean policy and lead on the No Deep Seabed Mining Initiative at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – watch this space.
Self-driving stage
Our first speaker in Theatre 2 was Mark Cracknell, of Zenzic, who focussed on the role of SMEs in the connected and automated mobility ecosystem. He highlighted the world-leading projects funded via CCAV’s Commercialising CAM competition, asserting that no other country will have a greater breadth of self-driving services on the road by 2025.
It was standing room only for our next speaker, Dr Joanna White, Roads Development Director at National Highways, who set out plans to future-proof the UK’s road network for AVs. She highlighted the success of the HumanDrive project, and the fantastically-named Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: Infrastructure Appraisal Readiness (CAVIAR) project.
Dr Joanna White, of National Highways, at #MOVE2023
The first panel of the day saw Zeina Nazer, of Cities Forum, discussing new strategies for the safe deployment of ADAS and autonomous tech with Dr Nick Reed, in his role as chief road safety advisor to National Highways, and The Law Commission’s Nicholas Paines QC.
Paines noted that the three-year review of legislation to enable the deployment of automated vehicles on British roads was the first time the Commission had been asked to design a law for the future.
In response to a question from the audience, he also clarified that data protection was excluded from the terms of reference, instead being covered by GDPR.
They went on to cover the potential role of remote driving and the importance of public acceptance, with Reed highlighting the Vision Zero strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries.
Jayesh Jagasia, of the AI in Automotive podcast, then took over hosting, including introducing the aforementioned “Embracing the SDV: Welcome to life in the software defined lane” panel.
Moderated by my good self, it featured: Patrick Blume, Head of Product for Urban Mobility at Mercedes-Benz; John Wall, Senior Vice-President at BlackBerry and head of its QNX system; and Marcus Welz, Vice President of Smart Mobility at Hyundai Motor Europe. A pertinent fact is that BlackBerry QNX is now embedded in over 235 million vehicles worldwide.
We only had 25 minutes, but we crammed a lot in, delving into cybersecurity, common codebase, OTA updates, verification and validation, changing car sales models, in-car personalisation, smart city connectivity, MAAS, ADAS and self-driving.
Serious points included Wall outlining the ability to refresh cars already on the road, the huge investments in what Blume described as the race for a competitive advantage, and Welz revealing an initiative to encourage Hyundai staff into multi-modal transport. Now that’s progressive!
Lighter moments included Welz describing the shift to self-driving as “a transition to The Jetsons”
We ended on the ability of near-future software-defined vehicles to reduce road traffic collisions, and therefore RTC fatalities and injuries, by up to 80% – oft-quoted maybe, but impressive, game-changing and thoroughly commendable nonetheless. My thanks to Max Kadera of MOVE and Lee the sound guy.
With moderating duties duly performed, I headed out into the arena, catching up with contacts old and new – Barbara Fitzsimons of Zenzic, Gunny Dhadyalla of AESIN, Karla Jakeman of TRL, Nick Fleming of BSI, Ben Loewenstein of Waymo and the IMI’s Mark Armitage.
ACES opinions
As IMI CEO Steve Nash noted: “MOVE represents the entire ACES (autonomous, connected, electric and shared) piece. You turn up with one opinion and have to moderate it after listening to all the different speakers.”
There were big eye-catching displays by business electric car subscription firm EZoo, ZF – with its Araiv Shuttle, powered by Oxa (formerly Oxbotica) – and HGV manufacturer Hydrogen Vehicle Systems. HVS are apparently talking to Fusion Processing (of CAVForth fame) about software – you heard it here first!
Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS) at #MOVE2023
Further intriguing snippets included Teragence CEO Christian Rouffaert on their mobile connectivity data, Alex Bainbridge of Autoura on expansion in the US, Amir Tirosh of StoreDot on how their new EV fast charging delivers consistently better quality in record time, Sandip Gangakhedkar of Fetch on the expansion of their remote driving car delivery trial – now open to the public across Milton Keynes – and Dr Martin Dürr, of Dromos, on talks with city authorities around the world, particularly in the UK and US.
We’re already looking forward to #MOVE2024, at ExCeL again, on 19-20 June next year. In the meantime, we have our own event planned…
Our Cars of the Future flyer for #MOVE2023 mentioned a self-driving event…
BSI’s Nick Fleming and technical author Dr Nick Reed on the new Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) Vocabulary.
If, as La Dolce Vita filmmaker Federico Fellini put it, a different language is a different vision of life, then BSI’s CAM (Connected and Automated Mobility) Vocabulary can make a vital contribution to the introduction of self-driving vehicles.
Sponsored by the UK Government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), the latest edition, BSI Flex 1890 v5.0, was launched in April 2023. It includes 103 key definitions and 60 commonly used abbreviations.
We spoke to Nick Fleming, Associate Director at BSI (British Standards Institution) – the UK National Standards Body – and the vocabulary’s technical author Dr Nick Reed, of Reed Mobility, to find out more.
CAM experts: Nick Fleming of BSI and Nick Reed of Reed Mobility
On the title, why the shift from CAV to CAM?
NF: “This is the fifth iteration of the Vocabulary we launched in 2020, and it has evolved significantly. By amending the title from CAV to CAM (along with the whole standards programme that BSI is developing with UK government’s CCAV), we are recognising that connected and automated vehicles will exist within a broader transport ecosystem.
“It’s not about looking at self-driving vehicles in isolation. The technologies will be core to a range of future mobility solutions – private vehicles, light passenger services and commercial freight. These will combine to offer the potential to make our transport system more efficient, which can deliver more inclusive and sustainable mobility. Safety is paramount. CAM is where the industry is headed and standards will take that wider viewpoint.”
NR: “Exactly right. CAM better aligns with what the industry is now doing. There’s the Zenzic CAM Roadmap, the government response to the Law Commission used CAM. It presents a strong picture of how the UK is positioning itself, how this technology is going to have such a positive impact on communities and businesses.”
What were the other most interesting changes?
NR: “There was a big expansion in the number of terms in version four, so we’ve rationalised and sharpened the definitions. The beauty of the BSI Flex process is that it allows this kind of rapid evolution – the ability to look back six months on, to update or amend as technologies mature. For example, there have been significant developments in the remote driving arena, so we’ve improved those definitions and removed terms we felt were confusing.
“One definition I particularly like is automated driving. It’s very simple now. Automated driving is when the dynamic driving task is performed by the automated driving system. That’s it. There are notes to help the reader understand exactly what we mean, but that’s a really clear definition of what is, and, just as important, what isn’t, automated driving.
“We’ve removed terms like Software Development Kit and Real Time Kinematics, that weren’t adding much value in a CAM context, and we’ve added helpful terms from other standards, like Static Entity and Dynamic Entity.
“Putting the Vocab together is interesting and challenging, with the technical advisory group including people from academia and the public and private sectors. One day we’ll reach an asymptote where much of the technology is standardised, but we’re not there yet. You only need to look at the media coverage of Ford’s hands-free announcement to see that there’s a lot of work still to do.
“These technologies are evolving rapidly, which is why the Vocab is so important – to help the industry reach that consistency of language. It’s great that government and others see the value, for example, when Innovate UK specified use of it for their Commercialising CAM competition.”
NF: “Dr Reed and the advisory group that worked with BSI to develop and maintain the vocabulary have done a fantastic job when considering work on related policy activities, like the Law Commission’s work on remote driving, during the process of updating the vocab. If the language isn’t right, or if there’s huge variation, it can cause confusion. Clarity can help to build public confidence in a technology that has the opportunity to bring benefit to society, if trust is there.
“It’s not easy to arrive at succinct definitions that everyone’s comfortable with. It requires a lot of consensus building. That’s fundamental to the BSI process. Language is the building block of standards, and we constantly strive to arrive at common acceptance. We know the Vocab has been accessed by companies and authorities the world over – that shows its relevance.”
What role does the Vocab play in BSI’s CAM Standards programme?
NF: “This Vocabulary is fundamental to our wider CAM programme. It was the first standard developed through BSI’s Flex process, which has now been adopted across BSI. We’re increasingly finding, especially in areas of emerging technologies, the value of developing standards in a more agile way – to be able to make changes more frequently. That’s positive from a perspective of informing and supporting regulatory development. Standards work well when they are a common touch point for industry, academia and consumers.
“The industry has been on a bit of a journey, moving from autonomous to automated vehicles, and increasingly we’re now talking about self-driving. We’ll soon be starting work on new standards relating to remote operation of vehicles, including remote driving, looking at both the technical system requirements and, crucially, the human factors element. The technology can be used as a fallback capability for self-driving vehicles, and for vehicles with more limited automation – to deliver and collect lease vehicles, for instance.
“Over the next few years, we’ll be looking at standards focused on the testing and validation of self-driving technologies – thinking about cybersecurity and what good operational safety looks like. Standards can help to ensure that the transition from advanced trials to commercial deployment happens safely, bringing all the societal benefits to life.”
NR: “There’s a lot of hype around AI at the moment – how it produces good answers most of the time, but sometimes answers that are either incorrect or unexpected. When we’re talking about safety critical systems for drivers, passengers and other road users, we need to have that sense of assurance that they will do the right things at the right time, reliably and acceptably. The Vocab provides a strong basis for what the Secretary of State for Transport is likely to be considering when listing a vehicle as self-driving.”
For a free copy of the CAM Vocabulary click here and there’s an option to provide feedback via the red “Read draft and comment” button.
Tom Leggett of Thatcham Research did an epic round of media interviews to explain what BlueCruise is – assisted driving – and isn’t – self-driving.
Few were expecting it, but 13 April 2023 will go down in British motoring history. It was the day Ford announced that the Department for Transport (DfT) had approved the use of its BlueCruise assisted driving system on parts of the UK motorway network, making hands-free legal for the first time.
Initially, only a select few gained the ability to go ‘hands off, eyes on’ – drivers of 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E cars who activate a subscription. Even then, use is restricted to 2,300 miles of pre-mapped motorways in England, Scotland and Wales – the new ‘Blue Zones’. Be in no doubt though, this is momentous.
One foot in the future
“It’s not every day you can say you’ve placed one foot in the future,” said Martin Sander, General Manager at Ford in Europe. “BlueCruise becoming the first hands-free driving system of its kind to receive approval for use in a European country is a significant step forward for our industry.”
UK Transport Minister, Jesse Norman, agreed: “I am delighted that this country is once more at the forefront of innovation. The latest advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) make driving smoother and easier, but they can also help make roads safer by reducing scope for driver error.”
One of the main themes at the recent Zenzic Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) Innovators event was the need to do more to establish the UK as a global leader. This embracing of hands-free will be noted around the world.
Ford describes BlueCruise as Level 2 driver assistance, with Lisa Brankin, managing director of Ford in Britain, telling the BBC’s Today programme that, in the case of an accident, the driver will still be responsible as the technology is “not autonomous driving”.
Ford BlueCruise graphic, 2023
BlueCruise combines intelligent adaptive cruise control and lane-centering with an in-cabin camera monitoring eye gaze and head position. If necessary, alerts in the instrument cluster and audible chimes will prompt the driver to return their eyes to the road.
Assisted not self-driving
Unfortunately, and rather predictably, much of the UK media again confused assisted driving and self-driving. The Guardian went with “First hands-free self-driving system approved for British motorways”, The Sun with “Huge car firm is launching the UK’s first-approved self-driving technology”.
Huge credit to Tom Leggett, vehicle technology specialist at Thatcham Research, for doing a marathon round of media interviews to explain what BlueCruise is – assisted driving– and what it isn’t – driverless or self-driving.
“The sudden introduction of this technology did catch the industry a little off-guard, as it was not anticipated that it would reach UK roads for another 18-months or maybe even two years,” he said.
“It has been approved by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) under Article 39 for a new and innovative technology, albeit based on current technology. Basically, the VCA were convinced by evidence from Ford, and their own on-track and on-road testing, that BlueCruise is as safe as, and not fundamentally different to, existing assisted driving technologies.
“The key point to emphasise is that it is assisted driving. What makes it slightly different is that it permits the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel. However, the driver is always responsible for driving. Any input from the driver, such as braking or changing lane, and the system will essentially turn off.
“The hope is that the driver monitoring will make it even safer. It is a camera system which looks at the driver’s direction of gaze to ensure they’re concentrating on the road, not looking out of the window or checking their phone.
“At Thatcham Research, we believe direct driver monitoring will have a significant role in addressing drowsiness and distraction. Currently in the UK, about 25% of all accidents involve some sort of distraction.
“It is vital that drivers using BlueCruise are aware of their responsibilities, and we’ll also be very interested to understand how they feel about using it.”
Please note: a version of this article was first published in the Institute of the Motor Industry’s MotorPro magazine.
Related story: Barrister Alex Glassbrook says approval of hands-free driving is a radical development in UK motoring, and should be accompanied by effective official guidance, training and information to the public and affected organisations.
Dr Daniel Ruiz on self-driving, the internet of transport and more.
Non-executive director at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), and reviewer of major projects for the Cabinet Office, Oxbridge engineering graduate Dr Daniel Ruiz has had a stellar 40-year career in public transport.
He was previously head of real-time operations at Transport for London (TfL), notably set up the Transport Coordination Centre for the 2012 Olympics, founded the Transport Technology Forum (TTF), and was head of Zenzic, tasked with accelerating self-driving in the UK.
We started by asking him about the hype surrounding self-driving cars…
DR: “Hype can be the enemy of progress. I think in connected and autonomous mobility (CAM), it’s certainly the case that hype held things back. People became interested in just driverless cars, and that narrow interest resulted in a focus on the wrong things – not the best outcomes for society, the economy or the environment.
“Robotaxis have long been the sex symbol of the autonomous vehicle parc, but they’re not necessarily going to make the biggest, or soonest, impact. There’s an emerging realisation that there are greater opportunities in autonomous freight.
“This is partly because freight doesn’t complain about how fast it goes around corners. It’s also because of the many off-highway opportunities for freight movements. This enables you to prove safety and efficacy.”
How do self-driving cars fit into the future of transport?
DR: “You can easily conclude that driverless technology is expensive, therefore it will only be for multimillionaires. The reality is that much of the technology has been proven on buses and low speed shuttles – public transport services. These are going to proliferate much faster than private autonomous vehicles, not least because the regulations still need to be established.
“The driverless car that sits in your own garage is a bit of a distraction because it reflects the current transport paradigm – take one thing out, a driven car, and put something else in, a driverless car. It implies that everything else remains the same.
“We need to be thinking in more dimensions about what we want in terms of mobility. To deliver the ultimate transport system you need to satisfy the collective requirements of society. There’s not enough looking forwards, then working back.
“Michael Hurwitz, formally Director of Transport Innovation at TfL, often draws attention to the fact that, until recently, there were very few modes of transport. Now there’s electric scooters and bikes, hire schemes, ride sharing and more.
“We need to put less emphasis on the mode and think more in terms of getting from A to B in the most efficient and comfortable way. Maybe you’d be happy to walk to a scooter station, get that to the train, then pick up a cab. It’s the dwell times that inject frustration and inefficiency; that lead many to say: “It’s too complicated, I’m going to jump in the car”.
“Autonomous vehicles are part of the equation, but the C in CAM, ‘connectivity’, is also vital. The Internet of Transport (IoT) is probably the most important thing to be considering right now. How do we make sure that data and knowledge are flowing safely, securely, anonymously? Then there’s the financial side – how do you charge for stuff?
“At one point the UK was ahead of the game, certainly amongst the front runners. It isn’t as obvious that we are today, but the prize is still there. Legislation is the blocker. We haven’t moved on from the 2018 Automated and Electric Vehicles Act, although the excellent Law Commission review has recently pointed the way.”
Finally, tell us about your new job at the ORR…
DR: “The ORR is the independent regulator for Britain’s railways, and also monitors the performance of the Strategic Road Network. It has proven itself to be one of the better regulators, trusted to do a job in everyone’s best interest, and this is a very exciting time for both rail and road.
“The ORR has an obvious focus on safety and value of money, but to do this we’re increasingly involved with data – how intelligence can be brought to bear on improving the flow of traffic and the movement of people and goods.”
Please note: a version of this article was first published by the Institute of the Motor Industry’s MotorPro magazine.
Last year’s Zenzic Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) Innovators event was a hard act to follow, forever remembered as our first post-covid industry do. 12 months on, CAM Innovators 2023 was a superior sequel – better attended and more vibrant, despite strike action by many of the keyworkers so lauded during the pandemic.
The venue was the same, the impressive Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on The Embankment, but this time the generous breakfast was dominated by tales of travel disruption due to the tube strike. 200+ self-driving enthusiasts battling through London gridlock to discuss clean, convenient future mobility.
Heavy traffic on the day of the self-driving event
Fortunately, the packed agenda and quality networking made it more than worthwhile… and hats off to the organisers for that! Registration was on the third floor, with views across the river and displays by the latest cohort of CAM Scale-Up winners.
Here, we caught up with Michael Talbot of CCAV, Tom Leggett of Thatcham, Dr Kashif Siddiq of Oxford RF and Dr Antje Völker of Dromos, and met some new people too – Emily from kids’ science activity provider Curiosity Box, and Richard, a cybersecurity expert from Siemens.
L-R: Kashif, Emily and Antje
Before long we were gently encouraged to the ground floor theatre for a welcome by Zenzic’s Frances Williamson and Mark Cracknell.
CAM champion
There followed a keynote speech by Paul Newman of Oxbotica, recently appointed UK Automotive Council CAM Champion, who emphasised that autonomy is a system rather than a technology. “It must be delivered where it is needed most, not just in London and the Oxbridge area,” he said.
Mili Naik of Zenzic on key priorities
Mili Naik of Zenzic then provided a sneak preview of the newly updated UK CAM Roadmap to 2035. Notably, it predicts self-driving on the road in the UK by 2025, with a priority to build public confidence in CAM.
The first panel of the day, “What a truly connected and automated mobile future looks like”, was moderated by Zenzic’s Francis McKinney and featured Catherine Lovell of CCAV, David Skipp of Ford, David Telford of HV Systems, Gareth Bathers of Cyient, and Michael Hurwitz of PA Consulting.
Key stated benefits included enhanced mobility solutions for all, the oft-quoted 90%+ reduction in road accidents and, interestingly, a 70% energy saving.
Self-driving opportunities
Zenzic’s Bhavin Makwana then looked at “the opportunities for the UK to compete on a global stage”, with particular strengths in intellectual property, cybersecurity and insurance.
The second panel of the day, focussing on international perspectives, was moderated by Zenzic’s Edita Sawyers and Nicola Hare. It featured Per Olof Arnäs of Einride, Corey Clothier of Stantec, Katy Pell from the Department for Business and Trade, Ben Loewenstein of Waymo, Rebecca Marsden of Oxbotica and Kieran Borrett of Plug and Play.
Self-driving experts discuss the UK’s global leadership prospects
There was broad agreement that the UK needs to do more to establish itself as a global leader in CAM, with a surprising lack of recognition in America especially. Plenty of food for thought then, as we broke for lunch – and very nice it was too.
CAM Scale-up winners
The afternoon session began with Zenzic’s Phillip Ironside introducing representatives of the seven companies currently receiving support via the Zenzic CAM Scale-Up Programme – John Strutton of Axitech, Mihai Caleap of Calyo, Martin Dürr of Dromos, Anna Corp of Eloy, John Cartledge of Gaist, Kashif Siddiq of Oxford RF, and Mike Handley of PolyChord.
The current cohort of CAM Scale-up winners
Each had just 90 seconds to give their elevator pitch in a whirlwind of incredible innovation!
Daniela Menzky, of first Scale-Up cohort Angoka, then hosted a panel on the challenges facing start-ups. It featured Chris Reeves of Horiba Mira, Thomas Sors of second cohort Beam Connectivity, and Damian Horton of Eloy. The pleasing message was that Zenzic CAM Scale-Up support dramatically accelerates product development.
Commercialising CAM
We’d already heard from 10 or so companies in the hour since lunch and the pace picked up again as Michael Talbot introduced us to “The world’s most comprehensive mix of self-driving projects” – the seven winners of CCAV’s Commercialising Connected and Automated Mobility competition.
Jim Fleming of Fusion Processing spoke on behalf of CAVForth2, David Telford of HV Systems for Hub2Hub, Mike Dawson of Belfast Harbour Commissioners for Project Harlander, Gemma Schroeder of the Greater Cambridge Partnership for Project Connector, Liz St Louis of Sunderland City Council for Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle, Paul Butler of the North East Automotive Alliance for V-CAL, and Tom Robinson of Conigital for Multi-Area Connected Automated Mobility (MACAM).
Amidst the plethora of ambitious plans, Project Harlander in Belfast has perhaps the greatest scope. It covers the vast port area, which has its own bylaws and therefore isn’t reliant on new UK legislation.
Questions from the audience included Professor Nick Reed enquiring about sharing data on safety – the panel all saw the benefits of working collaboratively – and Thatcham asking about OEM considerations – the only time all day that anyone mentioned conventional passenger cars!
CAM community
After a half-hour break for coffee and networking – a welcome chance to catch-up with Clem Robertson of R4dar– Kirsten Williamson of Petrus spoke briefly about skills and training, before joining a panel hosted by Zenzic’s Kit Golda on “Creating a UK CAM community”.
The final panel session at CAM Innovators 2023
They were joined by Karla Jakeman (previously of Innovate UK and now head of automated transport at TRL), Dr Antje Völker of Dromos, Dr Sally Stares of City University and Mark Preston of Streetdrone.
The latter explained how HGV drivers giving advice on reversing had been recruited to develop the AI, becoming leading advocates for self-driving.
The headline finding was that jobs in CAM are highly appealing to school children, much more so than traditional automotive – a suitably positive note on which to finish another fantastic event.
So, a date for your diary – we’ll do it all again next year, on 13 March.
Zenzic CAM Innovators Event 2024
Shortlisted by Zenzic for CAM Scale-up, Streetscope’s Collision Hazard Measure can inform safe self-driving deployment.
In this Cars of the Future exclusive, the co-founders of Pasadena-based Streetscope, Mark Goodstein and David Muyres, explain how their Collision Hazard Measure enables self-driving stakeholders to accelerate deployment with confidence.
DM: “The UK is a leader in automated vehicle (AV) development and we’re in discussion with an array of companies and organisations about demonstrating our capability in the UK environment. That would be a great success point for communicating our value to customers worldwide.
“Our technology evaluates the safe moving of any vehicle, human or machine driven. We treat it as a black box and evaluate how safely it moves amongst hazardous objects in the street scene, using simulation or camera data. Then we create indexes that different industries can use, for example, insurers, vehicle manufacturers, regulators and planners.
“The insurance industry is the one we’re having most conversations with. They want to understand the hazards of new technology vehicles, and now they’re realising we can help with the human-driven side as well. They can use our data to price risk more effectively.
Informing safe self-driving deployment
“Vehicle developers need to answer basic questions like: Am I to safe to deploy yet? They currently don’t have an independent way to objectively measure how safely a vehicle moves, and we can provide that.
“Regulatory is very interesting and it’s nice they’re interested in using our measure to guide future development.
“Infrastructure planning companies can hire us to evaluate a future self-driving route. We can identify high hazard locations and make recommendations to mitigate issues.”
Streetscope Collision Hazard Measure for vehicles incl. self-driving
And you’re talking to vehicle verification bodies too?
MG: “Yes. We’re a start-up, not at scale yet, but all we need is kinematic data, the position of all objects each tick of the clock, from any traffic scene to calculate the hazard posed between the vehicle and all other objects. And we can get that from either simulations or using cameras as data sources. Then we score them based on the Collision Hazard Measure we’ve invented.
“We could use lidar and radar, but those geometric sensors are very expensive. Cameras are ubiquitous, so we’re using them and making a pretty good job of it.
“There’s a school of thought that you can use aggregated data from other drive events using cell phone based sensors, but they lack context. Why did they slam on the brakes? Why did they accelerate so aggressively? There is no correlation to risk.
“We’re trying to get these industries to recognise that the data they’re spending a lot of money on is insufficient, and they’d be better off using our Collision Hazard Measure.”
Welcoming the Government’s commitment to include self-driving legislation in the Transport Bill, The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) has set out seven “expert recommended red lines”.
The seven points seem very sensible on the whole, covering many of the issues we regularly raise here at Cars of the Future, including the risk of confusing assisted and automated driving.
Self-driving red lines
In full, the CAM APPG’s seven red lines are:
Legislation must act as an enabler for the rollout of CAM technology, not a blocker. To achieve this, it will require a non-prescriptive and flexible regulatory framework that allows use cases to advance and innovate.
A statutory definition of self-driving must be established to distinguish this technology from assisted driving.
Clear lines of liability, accountability and responsibility for road safety must be established, in line with the Law Commission’s recommendations.
Establish minimum standards for data sharing and handling to ensure transparency and effective governance are embedded throughout the process.
Ensure the principle of interoperability is at the heart of the framework to realise the huge potential for the UK to export such a best-in-class regulatory model internationally.
Introduce regulatory sandboxes to allow businesses to test innovative use cases in the market with real consumers.
Develop a communications toolkit to accompany future legislation so that messaging can be easily disseminated to consumers to help assuage concerns around public acceptability.
Here’s our capsule review: The opening point, “Legislation must act as an enabler for the rollout of CAM technology, not a blocker” directly addresses the delicate balancing act the Government faces – facilitating these incredible cutting-edge technologies while prioritising safety and bringing the public on-board.
Point two, we bang on endlessly about this potential pitfall – it will be vital to differentiate between assisted and automated driving.
Point three, also essential of course, and huge strides are already been made by the insurance industry in this regard.
Point four, delivering “transparency and effective governance” on data sharing might prove to be the hardest of the lot.
Point five, the UK is ahead of the game on interoperability – can we translate this into a commercial advantage?
Point six, are “regulatory sandboxes” a mechanism through which the Government can achieve the balancing act referred to in point one?
Point seven – the communications toolkit – apparently there’s a UK-based website not a million miles away with free weekly newsletters which is already on the case!
Official comments
The APPG on CAM was set up with support from insurer AXA UK, law firm Burges Salmon and transport consultancy WSP. It is chaired by Ben Everitt, Conservative MP for Milton Keynes North, which makes sense given the area is one of the UK’s self-driving hotspots.
CAM APPG Chair Ben Everitt MP on self-driving
Ben Everitt MP said: “The CAM APPG was delighted to discuss how the upcoming Transport Bill can deliver the benefits of autonomous technology to local communities up and down the country.
“As we await the Government’s response to the Law Commission of England and Wales review into self- driving vehicles, and the call for evidence on the future of connected and automated mobility in the UK, the APPG will continue to advise on how we can build on the great progress made to date and ensure that the whole country is able to benefit from these innovative technologies.”
Dougie Barnett, Director of Customer Risk Management at AXA UK, said: “Self-driving technology could pave the way for safer roads, increased mobility and productivity and cleaner transport. However, alongside the legislation the Government must work with the industry to ensure there is no public confusion surrounding autonomous vehicles and place more emphasis on educating the public on how to use and interact with these vehicles safely.”
Giles Perkins, Head of Profession for Future Mobility at WSP, said: “The forthcoming Transport Bill promises to unlock the potential that autonomous mobility provides. We need to ensure the Bill acts as a catalyst to enable use cases and applications that really deliver benefits for people, communities and businesses. This must happen not only in our cities but the areas surrounding them and, importantly, rural geographies which often get overlooked.”
Lucy Pelger, Partner at Burges Salmon, said: “It’s vital that legislation is an enabler to self-driving technology. The right legislative framework will not only advance the UK’s position in the global CAM market but will importantly support in building the public’s trust and confidence in CAM technology. We look forward to the Government’s response to the Law Commissions’ recommendations.”
Likewise, we at Cars of the Future look forward to following the work of the CAM APPG in achieving these laudable aims.
