As the UK centre of excellence
in design and engineering for the Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle business in
India, TMETC plans to focus its learning and future developments on controlled
road environments. TMETC participated in the UK Autodrive project, co-funded by
Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency, which brought together 15 partners
including OEMs, cutting edge engineering businesses, academia and progressive
councils to explore the impact of ACES (Autonomous, Connected, Electric and
Shared) technology, in a safe and controlled setting.
As part of the project, TMETC
has successfully completed test trials on the new generation SUV, the Tata
Hexa. The Hexa lends spacious interior and provides ample room to accommodate
the necessary driving hardware, visitors and engineers in comfort.
Rajendra Petkar, Chief
Technology Officer, Tata Motors, “At Engineering Research Centre (ERC) we have
been actively undertaking R&D work on advanced driver assistance systems
(ADAS) as well as full vehicle autonomy in order to be future ready. Road
congestion, air pollution and road safety, are acute concerns in India. We are
likely to embrace connected, electric and shared technology sooner and
therefore it is essential we remain at the forefront of these developments.
Autonomy will be a consideration for the future in India. As the UK has already
published a code of practice for testing autonomous vehicles safely and
legally, it provides the ideal platform to enable us to challenge our
self-driving vehicle capabilities. With the support of our much talented team
at TMETC, I am delighted to share that the trials done on the HEXA have yielded
immensely rewarding insights for us. Going forward, we plan to introduce number
of ADAS functionalities in a structured & phased manner. ”
David Hudson, Head of
Propulsion, TMETC, said: “This has been a challenging project but has enabled
us to safely test our technologies on public roads in a real-world environment.
We have to understand the challenging road usage pattern in India and apply
that knowledge to this project. Our connectivity vehicle experience has enabled
us to safely test and demonstrate numerous features including GLOSA (Green
Light Optimal Speed Advisory) and EEBL (Electronic Emergency Brake Light). It
has also demonstrated how vehicles and infrastructure will work in tandem for a
motoring network in the future. We are pleased by the end of this project we
have achieved an appropriate level of self-driving capability to allow us to
move forward with our next steps in the mobility revolution.”
Source: Tata Motors European Technical Centre