All-Weather, Long Range Obstacle Detection for Autonomous Vehicles

"The potential economic and societal benefits of autonomous vehicles are vast, with the market expected to boom within the next three years. However, there is a critical limitation to the currently adopted sensing technologies which is being widely ignored within the industry. The current state-of-the-art sensors suffer significant degradation in poor weather and adverse conditions, a fact has not been addressed as most testing is carried out in research locations such as perpetually balmy California. However, the impediment to deployment will become apparent when these technologies experience the poor weather and adverse conditions typically found in other parts of the world and in off-road environments and where, arguably, autonomy is needed most.

To address this challenge, Oxbotica has partnered with Navtech Radar to investigate the feasibility of developing a radar-based system for autonomous vehicle sensing and perception, which will be robust and suitable for use in all weather and all conditions.

This project will bring together two innovative companies, Oxbotica and Navtech, who are leaders in their field. The output of this project will be a technology demonstrator that shows the feasibility of radar-based 3D object detection and tracking. This unique combination of leading-edge hardware and software will significantly boost the UK's competitive position in a massive global market."