Jaguar Land Rover has built a research vehicle that can be remote controlled using a smartphone, as part of the company’s autonomous driving program.

The Remote Control Range Rover Sport research vehicle lets the driver control the vehicle’s functions from outside the car via a smartphone. The smartphone app allows the user to control the steering, accelerator and brakes, as well as changing from high and low range.

So why is this useful? Well, the driver can walk alongside the car, at a maximum speed of 4 mph (6.4 km/h), and maneuver it out of challenging situations safely – or even negotiate difficult off-road terrain.

There are other uses as well. For example, the driver could use the smartphone to reverse the car out of a parking space if someone has parked too close for them to open the door.

Additionally, the driver could could continually check ramp, approach and departure angles and allow precise positioning of the vehicle when rock crawling, fording a stream or traversing slippery sections. The remote control function only works if the user is within 10 meters (32.8 feet) of the car and if the smart key can be detected. If the driver moves out of range or gets too close, the system will stop the vehicle.

Jaguar Land Rover says future possibilities for this technology could include more autonomous functionality, where the driver would give a simple command from the handset to traverse an obstacle or exit a parking space, and the car would do the rest.

Besides the Remote Control Range Rover Sport, which is demonstrated in the following video, the automaker is also testing a “Multi-Point Turn” Range Rover Sport capable of autonomously completing 180-degree turns.

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO