In an attempt to future proof its vehicles’ ability to go on the rough stuff, Jaguar Land Rover has begun developing off-road autonomous technology.
The CORTEX project is a world-first that looks to take driverless cars out of their comfort zone and onto harsher ground – with the project testing vehicles in many weather and surface conditions, such as dirt, snow, ice and fog.
With the use of 5D technology, JLR is combining acoustic, video, radar, light detection and distance sensing systems to collect data in real-time, meaning the car knows the surrounding environment and improves its overall awareness.
The test car is then able to learn and recall different conditions and become more sophisticated in how it drives in varying weather and on any terrain.
The £3.7m venture is part of JLR’s future vision of making its autonomous vehicles capable in all conditions – may that be on- or off-road.
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Chris Holmes, Jaguar connected and autonomous vehicle research manager, said: “It’s important that we develop our self-driving vehicles with the same capability and performance customers expect from all Jaguars and Land Rovers.
“Self-driving is an inevitability for the automotive industry and ensuring that our autonomous offering is the most enjoyable, capable and safe is what drives us to explore the boundaries of innovation. CORTEX gives us the opportunity to work with some fantastic partners whose expertise will help us realise this vision in the near future.”
