demonstrations and trials

Residents of Oxford may have spotted something unusual this September: a self-driving vehicle on the city’s streets. The Darwin Autonomous Shuttle usually operates at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, but it spent ten days in Oxford to demonstrate how autonomous public transport can coexist with live traffic in a busy city.

Rodrigo Barreto, Darwin’s lead architect, has written this overview of Darwin’s inspiration, achievements and plans for the future.

In November 2021, Darwin and ESA collaborated on a connectivity test at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. We spoke to Darwin’s Rodrigo Barreto and ESA’s Antonio Franchi to get some insight into this test.

In July 2021, Darwin performed a live demonstration of its ubiquitous communications technology in Cornwall. By switching seamlessly between satellite and terrestrial networks, this technology enables devices or vehicles to stay connected even in areas with variable coverage.

In this post, Rodrigo Barreto, Darwin’s lead architect, gives some background on the demonstration and talks about what we learnt from it.

A fully autonomous passenger shuttle service begins trials on UK roads today, Science Minister George Freeman has announced.

The new service is being trialled by Darwin Innovation Group, with support from ESA and the UK Space Agency. An autonomous shuttle will transport passengers around Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, which is home to some of the UK’s most innovative companies and research organisations.