July 27, 2022 10:00 GMT

Technology News Team

Oxbotica: The Company That is Fueling Autonomy

The Brains Behind Oxbotica

Oxbotica is one of the driving forces behind Universal Autonomy, which is the ability of any vehicle, regardless of size or location, to operate autonomously and sustainably.

As co-directors of Oxford University's Mobile Robotics Group's Department of Engineering Science, Newman and Posner oversaw the RobotCar UK project in 2013. RobotCar was the first autonomous vehicle to drive on UK roads.

The two established Oxbotica in 2014 using the recently developed technology.

The Technology

Oxbotica has received over $18 million in funding to date, with backing from the IP Group, Parkwalk Advisors, and AXA XL.

Oxbotica's full-stack, end-to-end Software from Universal Autonomy is independent of platforms, vehicles, or other external infrastructure like GPS. 

It can be used in any setting and on any surface. The technology is useful not only underground but also in "urban canyons"—cities with tall buildings that obstruct GPS signals for proper navigation—which are natural canyons and forests where GPS signals are weak or nonexistent.

Milestones

In 2017, Oxbotica tested seven autonomous shuttle buses as part of the GATEway Project in Greenwich, operating along a two-mile riverside path close to the O2 Arena in London. In London, Oxbotica and British online retailer Ocado conducted the first trial of autonomous grocery deliveries in the UK as the GATEway Project's next development.

At Gatwick Airport in London, Oxbotica installed its autonomous vehicle software in 2018, making it the first airport in the world to test an autonomous shuttle service. The autonomous electric vehicles traveled between the airport's North and South terminals on airside roads.

Oxbotica's technology was successfully tested airside at Heathrow Airport in collaboration with IAG Cargo, making it the first airside trial of an autonomous vehicle at a UK airport. For three weeks, the Oxbotica-designed CargoPod traveled by itself around the airside perimeter on a cargo route.

As a part of the DRIVEN project, which is funded by the UK Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, Oxbotica is building and deploying a fleet of Ford Fusion autonomous vehicles that are operating on public roads in Oxford and London and, together with its consortium partners, providing real-time insurance. In order to increase road safety, AXA XL and Oxbotica are collaborating on the creation of intelligent insurance products.

In order to develop and introduce autonomous taxis in the city of London by 2021, Oxbotica and Addison Lee, a taxi company in London, announced their partnership in 2018. In Canary Wharf, London, a 3D street mapping exercise is already underway.

Stratford, London's public roads were used by a fleet of Ford Mondeo vehicles equipped with Oxbotica's autonomous technology in 2019 to test how well it worked in urban settings. The DRIVEN Project and this £13.2 million project are working together to create self-driving vehicles.

COMPANY: Oxbotica

https://www.oxbotica.com