THE DRIVERLESS CAR IS COMING, ONE NARROW, UNMARKED, KERBLESS COUNTRY ROAD AT A TIME

• ROBERT LEA
• THE TIMES
• FEBRUARY 12, 2020

ON NOVEMBER 28 LAST YEAR, AT 7.25AM, A CAR PACKED WITH ELECTRONICS LEFT THE SPRAWLING CAMPUS OF CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY IN BEDFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, MOVING NORTH. BY 2.50PM IT HAD ROLLED INTO NISSAN’S HEADQUARTERS IN SUNDERLAND.

THE CAR, AN ELECTRIC NISSAN LEAF FITTED OUT WITH SEVEN CAMERAS, EIGHT LIDAR SENSORS THAT BUILD UP A 360-DEGREE PICTURE OF THE SURROUNDINGS, TWO GPS SATELLITE RECEIVERS AND A BOOT FULL OF COMPUTERS, HAD SET A NEW RECORD: AT 370KM, THE LONGEST KNOWN DRIVE BY AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ON BRITISH PUBLIC ROADS.

THE FEAT, NEWS OF WHICH NISSAN HAS RELEASED TO DEMONSTRATE HOW FAR ITS DRIVERLESS CAR TECHNOLOGY HAS ADVANCED, IS UNPRECEDENTED AS FAR AS WE KNOW — THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER SECRET PROJECTS BUT NONE SO FAR HAS CLAIMED SUCH A BREAKTHROUGH.

THE PRE-MAPPED AND PROGRAMMED JOURNEY STARTED OUT ON COUNTRY ROADS, TOOK IN COMPLEX MULTI-LANE ROUNDABOUTS, MOTORWAYS, MERGING MOTORWAYS AND FINALLY A SEMI-URBAN ENVIRONMENT. AT ALL TIMES SAFETY DRIVERS WERE IN PLACE, EYES ON THE ROAD BUT WITH HANDS ON LAPS IN A 20-TO-4 POSITION, LETTING THE WHEEL DO THE STEERING.

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THE JOURNEY WAS NOT WHOLLY AUTONOMOUS. THE NEED TO TOP UP THE ELECTRIC BATTERY OF A VEHICLE LADEN WITH HARDWARE MEANT FOUR SERVICE STATION STOPS TO FIND A RECHARGING POINT. ON EACH OCCASION, THE DRIVER TOOK BACK CONTROL AS THE VEHICLE AT THIS STAGE OF ITS DEVELOPMENT IS UNABLE TO COPE WITH CRISSCROSSING SERVICE STATION TRAFFIC OR LOCATING THE CHARGEPOINT ITSELF.

AND ON THE ROAD, THE LIMITS OF ITS TECHNOLOGY WERE TESTED.

WHILE THE VEHICLE, WHICH TRAVELLED AT A TOP SPEED OF ALMOST 100KM/H, AUTONOMOUSLY CHANGED LANES TO OVERTAKE SLOWER TRAFFIC, WHEN A BROKEN-DOWN TRUCK AHEAD WAS PARKED ON THE INSIDE LANE, THE LEAF DIDN’T COMPREHEND THE RED CROSS ON THE OVERHEAD GANTRY SIGNAGE INSTRUCTING DRIVERS TO PULL INTO AN OUTSIDE LANE. THE SAFETY DRIVER HAD TO INTERVENE.

MOTORWAY DRIVING IS NOT WHAT THE ENGINEERS BASED AT THE NISSAN TECHNICAL CENTRE AT CRANFIELD ARE MOST PROUD OF. LANE-MARKED, SEGREGATED TRAFFIC IS, SAYS BOB BATEMAN, THE PROJECT LEADER, THE RELATIVELY EASY BIT.

IT IS NARROW COUNTRY LANES, WITH NO KERBS, NO ROAD MARKINGS AND FAST ONCOMING TRAFFIC THAT ARE A TRUER TEST OF WHETHER AUTONOMOUS DRIVING WORKS.

IT IS ON JUST SUCH A ROAD, THE 5KM JOURNEY FROM CRANFIELD TO JUNCTION 14 OF THE M1 THROUGH THE VILLAGE OF MOULSOE, THAT NISSAN IS NOW DEMONSTRATING THE TECHNOLOGY TO JOURNALISTS.

WITH THE SAFETY DRIVER IN HANDS-OFF, FEET-OFF-PEDALS MODE, THE CAR AUTOMATICALLY SLOWS OR ACCELERATES TO TRAVEL AT THE CHANGING SPEED LIMITS. IT PROVES THAT IT IS NOT AN AMBER-GAMBLER, SLOWING TO A STOP AS TRAFFIC LIGHTS TURN ORANGE AND STARTING AGAIN ONLY WHEN THEY SHOW GREEN. AT THE JUNCTION TOWARD THE M1 IT IS NOT TOO CAUTIOUS IN PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC; AT THE ROUNDABOUT ON THE JUNCTION IT WAITS, NOT TOO WARILY, FOR A GAP IN THE TRAFFIC.

YET THE LIMITATIONS OF THE TECHNOLOGY SO FAR DEVELOPED ARE ALSO ON SHOW. AS WE DRIVE A LITTLE TOO CLOSELY TO A GRASS VERGE, PROJECT ENGINEER NIRAV SHAH SITTING IN THE BACK WITH A BANK OF DATA SCREENS, EXPLAINS THAT WE ARE IN A DIP IN THE ROAD WHERE THE GUIDING LIGHT OF THE GPS IS WEAKER.

AS WE ROUND A BEND PASSING ST MARY’S CHURCH, A LAND ROVER IS LOOKING LIKE IT IS ABOUT TO PULL OUT. HUMAN REACTION AT THIS POINT MIGHT HAVE VARIED: SLOWING DOWN TO LET IT COME OUT; AN EXASPERATED BLAST OF THE HORN; OR JUST SWERVING PAST AT SPEED. THE AUTONOMOUS LEAF APPEARS TO DRIVE ON UNNOTICING, PROMPTING THE SAFETY DRIVER TO GRIP THE WHEEL AND GENTLY PULL OUT AND AWAY. SHAH CONCEDES: “THAT WAS A BIT CLOSE.”

THE QUESTION SOME PEOPLE ASK ABOUT AUTONOMOUS CARS IS: DO WE NEED THEM OR THE TAXPAYER INVESTMENT IN THEM? CAN THE TECHNOLOGY EVER BE FOOLPROOF? WILL DRIVERLESS CARS EVER BE AFFORDABLE? WILL GOVERNMENTS EVER HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO SET THEM FREE?

LIKE TECHNOLOGY THAT CASCADES DOWN FROM FORMULA ONE MOTOR RACING INTO THE EVERYDAY PASSENGER CAR, NISSAN IS USING THE PROJECT TO GET AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS TO PROOF OF CONCEPT. IF, AS NISSAN BELIEVES, AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES SHOULD MEAN ZERO ROAD FATALITIES, THEN ITS DEVELOPMENTS IN VEHICLE-CONTROLLED SPEED, STEERING AND SELF-PARKING ARE ALREADY LIVE IN ITS FAMILY CARS.

THE CRANFIELD PROJECT SHOWS HOW CLOSE IT IS TO SO-CALLED LEVEL 4 AUTONOMOUS CARS, WHICH MEANS THE DRIVER CAN BE HANDS OFF THE WHEEL, EYES OFF THE ROAD, SO LONG AS THEY ARE AT THE WHEEL TO TAKE BACK CONTROL WHEN NEEDED. (LEVEL 5 AUTONOMY IS WHEN THE MACHINE IS TOTALLY IN CONTROL, A SELF-DRIVING SCENARIO IN WHICH YOU CAN GET OUT OF YOUR CAR AND IT WILL GO OFF AND PARK ITSELF OR WHEN IT CAN BE PROGRAMMED TO COME AND PICK YOU UP FROM THE PUB.)

NEIL FULTON IS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF CONNECTED PLACES CATAPULT, A TAXPAYER-FUNDED BACKER OF TECHNOLOGIES TO GET THEM TO COMMERCIAL DEPLOYMENT.

HE CONFESSED THAT THE BOAST BY CHRIS GRAYLING, THE FORMER TRANSPORT SECRETARY, SAYS AUTONOMOUS CARS WILL BE DRIVING AROUND THE COUNTRY THIS DECADE.

NISSAN BELIEVES IT IS GETTING THERE IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY AND AFFORDABILITY. BUT WILL GOVERNMENTS EVER GIVE THE GREEN LIGHT TO THE TRULY SELF-DRIVING CAR?

AS DAVID MOSS, NISSAN’S HEAD OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AT CRANFIELD, SAYS: “THE ONLY BARRIER IS REGULATORY.