THE VEHICLES

CAVForth is developing a fleet of five, SAE autonomous Level 4, full sized buses. These based on standard Alexander Dennis E200, 43-seat single deck buses that are regularly seen operating in cities and towns throughout the UK. They have, however, had some advanced modifications to make them capable of driving fully autonomously.

The project is also using a specially adapted Fiat Ducato van to accelerate the development and testing of the automated drive system. Like the CAVForth buses, the van can be used in both manual drive and autonomous modes on public roads.

Enviro200 single decker bus

The Enviro200 is Britain's favourite single deck bus with thousands of units on the roads across the country. Its lightweight design makes it highly fuel efficient and cost-effective to run. It has been developed through a unique partnership involving ADL's world-leading design and engineering teams, specialist suppliers and customers from all parts of the industry.

The Enviro200 is accredited as a Low Emission Bus by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) when fitted with the award-winning SmartPack efficient diesel technology, developed in-house by Alexander Dennis.

SmartPack combines engine stop/start and electrically driven cooling fans with the smart management of alternator and air compressor to only charge during vehicle deceleration when they place no additional load on the engine. This results in a reduction in well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption of 24% in the LowCVP test cycle.

Autonomous Test Vehicle

Fusion Processing has taken a standard Fiat Ducato crew van and upgraded it to fully autonomous operation. The vehicle is being used to further develop the CAVstar automated drive system, and support testing on track and on the route.

Fusion engineers have installed their CAVStar Automated Driving System into the van, including the control system hardware, sensors, safety driver's Human Machine Interface (HMI), GNSS and communications systems and all software.

Fusion's engineers have also converted the vehicle’s steering system, brake system and throttle control to allow the CAVStar system to safely control the vehicle. The CAVstar system supports SAE autonomous levels 4 and 5 driving. To achieve the required levels of functional safety, the vehicle also required upgrades to the braking and steering systems to provide dual redundancy so that in the event of a critical system failure, a backup system can be used.