Jaguar Land Rover is looking to take self-driving cars off-road, regardless of weather and terrain conditions. The name of the project is CORTEX and it has a budget of £3.7 million ($4.9 million).
The British automaker will employ a new 5D technique that combines acoustic, video, radar, light detection and distance sensing data with machine learning. All the information is then processed in real time, allowing the vehicle to behave in what JLR says is an “increasingly sophisticated way.”
“It’s important that we develop our self-driving vehicles with the same capability and performance customers expect from all Jaguars and Land Rovers,” stated JLR connected & autonomous vehicle research manager Chris Holmes.
“Self-driving is an inevitability for the automotive industry and ensuring that our autonomous offering is the most enjoyable, capable and safe is what drives us to explore the boundaries of innovation. CORTEX gives us the opportunity to work with some fantastic partners whose expertise will help us realize this vision in the near future.”
The technology will be honed via algorithm development, sensor optimization and physical testing on off-road tracks in the UK. Meanwhile, machine learning experts from the University of Birmingham will join the project, giving JLR access to their research into radar and sensing for autonomous platforms.
