RFI: CAV Operating Routes Risk Assessment

Update, 3 February 2021:
Many thanks to those who responded to this RFI! We’ve chosen TRL’s submission as our preferred solution.

At Darwin, we are opening a call for responses to our request for information (RFI) on Harwell Campus Autonomous Shuttle Operating Routes risk assessment.

We are looking for risk and safety assessments of two routes on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus to be done during February 2021. The address of the campus is: Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0QX. The two routes are shown in the below picture (orange and blue).

Harwell Campus CAV routes map

The vehicle that will operate on these two routes will be an autonomous shuttle produced by Navya. The vehicle will transport up to 15 people at any one time and is envisaged to operate 24/7.

The vehicle will operate alternating between the orange and blue routes, with the central station being the ESA building. All other stops will be public bus stops on the two routes.

The vehicle will be charged at the ESA car park and stored in the STFC area. The vehicle is autonomous (Level 4), with a safety operator in the vehicle at all times.

What we are looking for in your response to this RFI:

• Risk and safety assessment of the shown routes.
• What evidence can you provide to demonstrate the experience your company has with this type of activity?
• What are the activities you would perform?
• What regulatory approvals would you advise us to seek?
• Over what period of time would you need to perform the activity?
• What is the estimated cost of your work?

Additional video imaging is available here, showing both drone and in-car surveys. The videos show:

• Autonomous shuttle route 1 (orange): car view and drone view.
• Autonomous shuttle route 2 (blue): car view and drone view.
• Drone corridor: drone view.
• STFC/RAL entrance: car view.
• ESA charging point: car view.

If you intend to submit a response, ideally please let us know by Friday 18 December 2020 so we can allocate appropriate time for reviewers based on the number of responses we receive.

Should it be required, we are offering a one-hour consultation session with our technical team to answer any questions you may have before the submission. Consultation sessions will be available from 11 January to 14 January. Please get in touch if you would like to schedule a consultation session, specifying the date and time you are requesting.

Full RFI responses are requested by no later than 15 January 2021. Our intention is to announce the results by 29 January 2021.

Darwin Innovation Group is a UK-based company that provides services related to autonomous vehicles and communications. If you’re interested in working with us, take a look at our careers page. If you’d like to know how we can help your organisation make use of autonomous vehicles, contact us. You can also follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.