Major autonomous vehicle project launched at Millbrook

The event included demonstrations of a variety of functions, including the transmission of data at ‘5G-like speeds’ of 1Gbps. It also gave attendees the opportunity to view project infrastructure, such as 23 small cell base station sites situated around Millbrook’s high-speed testing track.

Keynote speeches on the day came from key figures in the development of 5G, including CTO at Ofcom Mansoor Hanif and director of the 5G Innovation Centre, University of Surrey, Rahim Tafazolli.

Speaking of the testbed, a spokesperson for the project said: “CAV developers now have access to a low latency, wide-area wireless infrastructure that will work seamlessly across the entire Millbrook proving ground. This capability is crucial for the validation and testing of level three to level five autonomous vehicles, which require high speed, real-time connectivity to compare the 'real world' outcomes with the decision-making simulation.”

The spokesperson continued: “The infrastructure enables self-driving vehicle testing to be carried out in a secure environment using a private, tuneable mobile network. Developers can simulate weak and strong cell signals and understand the impact of hills and other terrain in a single location, while having access to all data generated during testing."