Partners – CAVForth

Fusion Processing

Automated Drive System Provider and Project Lead

Fusion Processing are world leaders in automated driving systems, situational awareness and control systems technology. Fusion Processing’s products have clocked up over 1.8 million kilometres of service.

Innovations include the CAVstar automated driving system, and CycleEye CMS, a collision avoidance and mirror replacement system for buses and trucks. All systems have been designed and developed in house at their Bristol, UK headquarters. With numerous vehicles taking part in technology trials and commercial operations today, Fusion's systems are improving road safety and enabling smarter city traffic operations that are set to transform the automotive industry.

Using deep theoretical knowledge, coupled with practical know-how and experience, our engineers have been able to create highly advanced products that are both effective and robust. A carefully-chosen network of supply chain partners ensures Fusion's high quality products can be delivered in volume to industry required standards, and our experience of working with numerous vehicle manufacturers ensures we can integrate seamlessly with industry standard processes.

Stagecoach Group PLC

Service Provider

Stagecoach are the UK’s largest bus operator growing from 2 buses in 1980 to today when we have almost 8,000 vehicles and employ 24,000 people. We carry around 3 million passengers a day and over a billion passengers every year. We connect people to the places and people that matter most to them.

We have been described as the ‘original disrupter’ in the transport space and are always keen to form new partnerships and try new things. This, along with our ambition to be the worlds favourite and most successful transport company, has led us to explore the potential of autonomous buses through CAV Forth.

We are responsible for designing and delivering a quality passenger experience, supporting Napier University with their research into societal perceptions and, most importantly, operating the service to highest safety standards.

Alexander Dennis Limited

Vehicle manufacturer

Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) is part of leading independent global bus manufacturer NFI Group. ADL is a global leader in the design and manufacture of double deck buses and is also the UK’s largest bus and coach manufacturer. ADL's history and heritage of design, engineering and manufacturing excellence spans more than a century. As a pioneer in embracing the latest technology, ADL has brought the widest range of low, ultra low and zero emission buses to market.

CAVForth allows ADL to evaluate potential benefits of autonomous technology under real operating conditions, and feeds into the manufacturer’s extensive work to further improve the safety of buses with the help of state-of-the-art technology.

Transport Scotland

National Transport Agency

Our support for Project CAVForth demonstrates the Scottish Government’s belief that a modern transport system is fundamental to sustainable and inclusive economic growth and has the potential to deliver significant economic and societal benefits.

It will enhance Scotland’s reputation for innovation and scientific excellence and highlights that Scotland is "open for business" for CAV technologies.

As a partner in Project CAVForth and roads authority for most of the route, Transport Scotland will:

design and implement infrastructure measures required to support the scheme,
undertake liaison and relationships with local roads authorities and use the facilities of the Traffic Scotland National Control Centre at the south end of the Forth Road Bridge to monitor the trial in live time,
provide incident management response if required, and
facilitate education, project information and the dissemination of learning relating to Project CAVForth.

Napier University

Measurement Of Wider Society Viewpoint

At Edinburgh Napier, we nurture talent and create knowledge that shapes communities all around the world.

Our Transport Research Institute is Scotland's largest and longest established transport research group. Established in 1996 we have an enviable track record in delivering high-quality transport research, consultancy and other knowledge transfer projects that offer solutions to society's challenges.

On CAVForth, we are responsible for monitoring the societal viewpoint which aims to understand how technology acceptance levels change as a result of having autonomous vehicles on Scotlands’ roads.

Bristol Robotics Lab

Simulation

Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) is the most comprehensive academic centre for multi-disciplinary robotics research in the UK. It is a collaborative partnership between the University of the West of England (UWE, Bristol) and the University of Bristol, and home to a vibrant community of over 300 academics, researchers and industry practitioners. One of the critical missions of BRL is to equip robots, including Connected Autonomous Vehicles, to operate in flexible roles and, within this focus, we investigate methods to ensure safety and usefulness of a robot at all times.

We have been involved with Connected Autonomous Vehicle research and development since 2015 via the Innovate UK/CCAV funded projects VENTURER, FLOURISH, MultiCAV, CAPRI, ROBOPILOT and, most recently, CAV-Forth. In the last three of these, our focus has been predominantly on developing a novel methodology for driving a CAV-simulator in a largely autonomous manner. By autonomously identifying a very large number of critical interaction scenarios and then running through many thousands of variants of those scenarios, we are able to contribute to the verification and validation of the vehicle under test’s safety.