Transport for London (TfL), IAG and Admiral are among dozens of UK organizations positioned to help grow the country’s connected and automated mobility (CAM) industry, as a result of funding from the CAM Pathfinder Feasibility Studies (FS) competition.
Funded by the UK government, the CAM Pathfinder FS competition is delivered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), supported by Zenzic and Innovate UK, and will support 14 projects aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of CAM solutions and technology.
The competition – which is part of the £150m (US$202m) Pathfinder program announced in the government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan – aims to investigate early commercial CAM opportunities and help the UK supply chain grow and fill technology gaps necessary for their deployment.
The studies will explore potential solutions for issues encountered by organizations or industry when introducing CAM technologies or services, while helping to grow the industry, which, according to the SMMT, is worth £3.7bn (US$5bn) annually.
The projects are:
- London Bus Depots, led by Transport for London, Fusion Processing, Metroline and Alexander Dennis;
- Autonomous Impact Protection Vehicle, led by Colas, Ringway, Fusion Processing, TRL, The Future of Transport and ACKLEA;
- CitiPod, led by Cambridge Electric Transport and Cambridgeshire County Council;
- eFREIGHT, led by Voltempo, Catapult and Berkeley Cars;
- GAMMA – Glasgow Automated Mobility Mass-Transit Accelerator, led by dg:cities, Admiral and ZF;
- ADASTRA Feasibility Study for Self-Driving Shuttles in Mobility Hubs, led by Suffolk County Council and Smart City Consultancy;
- Kirkwall Autolink – Outline Business Case for Autonomous, Zero-Emission Shuttle Service, led by Urban Foresight, Aurrigo, and The Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS);
- NAVIGATES – Networked AV Integration and Governance with Advanced Technology and Security, led by Angoka and Cenex;
- Runway to Autonomy – Removing NUIC Obstacles for Autonomous Baggage Handling Vehicles, led by International Airlines Group (IAG) and RDM Group;
- MAEVe – Modular Automated Electric Vehicle, led by Aim Technologies, EVIE and Cabonix;
- Unified Neutral Net-Radar, led by Radareye and EnSilica;
- Opt Tech 4 Auto & RC, led by Atera Analytics Ltd;
- Dora – Developing Objective and Quantifiable Risk Assessment for CAV, led by Idiada and the University of Warwick’s Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG);
- CAM4Events – Exploring Deployment of CAM Technologies and Services for Events, led by You Smart Thing Ltd, Transport for West Midlands, Syselek and AJW.
The UK government regards a thriving CAM ecosystem as key to driving innovation and helping it realize its ambition of creating a £40bn (US$54bn) CAM sector and over 6,500 jobs in the industry by 2040.
Zenzic was established by the government and industry to support the integration and coordination of this ecosystem. It builds on the successful creation of CAM Testbed UK, facilitating early commercial deployments and a strong UK CAM supply chain. The organization also supports the wider CAM ecosystem through a program of insights, innovation and collaboration.
Over the past eight years, Zenzic has helped distribute hundreds of millions of pounds in funding to support and grow the UK’s CAM sector, with several public trials taking place and active trials underway in Belfast, Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Solihull.
“We are delighted to officially reveal the successful feasibility projects that will be undertaken as part of this year’s CAM FS program,” said Mark Cracknell, program director at Zenzic. “We are looking forward to working with the consortiums delivering each of the 14 projects over the coming weeks and months to further develop their businesses cases, demonstrate the commerciality of their solutions and provide vital insight into the opportunities presented by the UK becoming a global CAM pioneer.”
Mike Biddle, executive director for net zero at Innovate UK, concluded, “The funding for these CAM feasibility studies will enable the project teams to explore early commercial opportunities and address key technology gaps to accelerate the development of solutions needed for more widespread CAM deployment. This announcement highlights the UK’s commitment to innovation and signals confidence in the industry’s future potential. Our teams here at Innovate UK work in partnership to support businesses on their journey, from feasibility through to real-world deployment, helping them unlock opportunities, drive innovation and deliver long-term economic and societal benefits.”
In related news, Here Technologies has announced its collaboration with Nio’s latest car brand, Firefly, to improve the safety, efficiency and overall driving experience of Firefly’s intelligent EVs