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British driverless pod steals the show

The UK’s first Driverless pod – designed and built in the heart of Coventry – has been wowing the crowds during the first three days of a global conference on Intelligent Mobility.

Thousands of visitors to the ITS Congress and Exhibition in Bordeaux have been descending on the Transport Systems Catapult stand (C17) to catch a first glimpse of the electric-powered Lutz pathfinder pod, which is being trialed on the pavements of Milton Keynes.

Capable of up to 15mph and a range of 40 miles, the two-seater vehicle has been designed and manufactured by RDM Group and is currently having its autonomous control system installed at Oxford University’s Mobile Robotic Group.

The pace of this project puts the UK at the forefront of driverless vehicle introduction and this was reflected in the level of interest over the first three days.

“This is one of, if not the biggest, intelligent mobility shows in the world and a fantastic platform to showcase how far we have progressed the Lutz pathfinder project,” explained Miles Garner, Sales and Marketing Director at RDM Group.

“Just recently we have completed and delivered the first pod and assembly of the other two vehicles is currently underway at our advanced engineering centre in Coventry.”

He continued: “There has been a lot of interest in what we are trying to do and the feedback has been impressive so far. We’ve also chatted to a lot of foreign government officials and private sector companies about how we can solve their autonomous vehicle aspirations.

“The Pod is emblazoned in the Union Jack and is a real stand out symbol of British design and engineering.”

The ITS Congress runs until Friday and RDM Group will have technical experts in place for the rest of the week.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .