The University of Lincoln will lead a new global research project looking into the safety of driverless cars, it has been announced.
Lincoln will work with universities around the world from China to South America in the ‘ULTRACEPT’ project.
Aiming to improve the collision detection of driverless cars, the project is funded by a €1.8 million grant from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.
Leading the project at the University will be Professor Shigang Yue, Professor of Computer Science.
He said: “Autonomous vehicles, although still in the early stages of development, have demonstrated huge potential for shaping our future lifestyles – from sending children to school, driving commuters to work, delivering packages to households, and distributing goods to warehouses, shops or remote areas.”
“But to be functional on a daily basis there is one critical issue to solve; trustworthy collision detection.”
The project will be inspired by the swarming and fast-reaction times of insects.
“We hope that in the future, each vehicle, with or without a driver, will be well equipped with an innovative sensor to navigate as effectively as animals do,” Professor Yue said.