Northern Ireland’s first self-driving vehicle has commenced its first pilot journey in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. The eight-seater Harlander will provide a free shuttle service, which begun on Tuesday 22 July and will run until September between Titanic Halt Railway Station and Catalyst.
The Oxa and eVersum vehicle, which has a safety operator on board, has been described as an initial step to fully driverless transport systems in the UK. Mike Dawson, people and digital transformation director at Belfast Harbour, told the Border Telegraph that the scheme was a ground-breaking project for Northern Ireland.
“This is a ground-breaking project for Northern Ireland and is a step towards fully driverless transport Following eight weeks of testing, we are delighted to launch the Harlander to the public to offer last mile connectivity on the Harbour Estate. This is a ground-breaking project for Northern Ireland and is a step towards fully driverless transport.
“Belfast Harbour has a strong track record of supporting innovation and this project supports our smart port ambitions, utilising cutting-edge technology to support our tenants and the public. We’re excited to see the public reaction and utilisation of the service.”
Belfast Harbour is leading the development of the service, which is Northern Ireland’s first step in autonomous vehicles on publicly accessible roads, alongside a consortium of partners.
The initiative has received £11 million joint government and industry funding, including £5.5 million in funding from Innovate UK, which is working with the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles to invest £41.5 million in innovation projects across the UK that demonstrate real-world benefits of connected and autonomous vehicles.
Gavin Jackson from Oxa said.
“We have cameras on the bus that help you see and reason with the things around you. We’ve got lasers on the bus that help you build a geometric map of the place you are driving. We fuse all of that input together into information that AI (Artificial Intelligence) – which is the Oxa driver – is able to build a plan and drive the vehicle.”
(Pic: Oxa/eVersum)
