Jaguar Land Rover has set about trialling and demonstrating self-driving cars that find a parking space and park themselves without the need for a driver.
Self-driving valet is another step towards the autonomous cars of tomorrow as the technology aims to remove the stress of urban driving.
Testing of this self-driving valet technology has taken place on open public roads in Milton Keynes as part of Jaguar Land Rover’s work with UK Autodrive. The consortium that is UK Autodrive is testing self-driving vehicles and connected car technologies in a race for the future.
Joerg Schlinkheider, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Engineer, Automated Driving, said of the new tests: “We're investing heavily in automated technologies to make our customers' lives safer and more convenient. Reducing the everyday stresses of driving - like squeezing into a tight parking place - means that we can all focus on the more enjoyable aspects of our cars.”
Also on the development agenda is technology designed to speed up the integration of automated driving features so that cars will be able to communicate instantly with each other and the surrounding environment. This is in a bid to help cars react faster to potential interference and the likes.
Two features which have undergone testing in Milton Keynes for this purpose were ‘Emergency Vehicle Warning’ (EVW) and ‘Electronic Emergency Brake Light’ (EEBL).
EVW is designed to alert drivers if an emergency vehicle is approaching and where it is coming from to allow the driver to get out of their path. EEBL warns of heavy braking by another connect car which could potentially prevent a rear-end collision by providing several additional seconds to react.
Jaguar Land Rover’s fully- and semi-automated vehicle technologies are meant to provide customers with the option of an engaged or automated drive, a drive that is as safe and enjoyable as possible. The goal is for self-driving vehicles to be a viable option for a wide range of real-life, on- and off-road environments and weather conditions.
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