"Wildcat" now in the hands of the Department of Engineering Science
The Wildcat vehicle is a 4x4 off-road production car from Bowler,
modified by BAE System's engineers. The vehicle is equipped with
computer controlled steering servos, an extra braking system and a
hotline into the vehicle's engine management system for speed control.
In addition, wireless data links, GPS and laser ranging sensors were
installed so that the Wildcat could receive instructions, navigate and
avoid hitting obstacles.
Mr James Baker is seen here handing over the Wildcat keys to Dr Paul Newman.
“This is an exciting joint project between the University of Oxford and BAE Systems”, said James Baker, Managing Director of BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre. “Over the last five years, we’ve invested over £1 million in the Wildcat project, which makes it a very unique asset for the testing of autonomous technology. It is great for us to be able to offer this technology as a test-bed for the University of Oxford and we look forward to seeing the results over the coming years.”
Commenting on the arrival of Wildcat, Dr Paul Newman at the Department of Engineering Science said: “Wildcat is the result of years of advanced research and development by BAE. It will allow us to advance our own research into autonomous transport, contributing to a future of autonomy on the roads of Oxford, and around the world.”
Dr Newman continued: “We are not condemned to a future of congestion and accidents. We will eventually have cars that can drive themselves, interacting safely with other road users and using roads efficiently, thus freeing up our precious time. But to do this the machines need life-long infrastructure-free navigation and that is the focus of this work.”
The Department of Engineering thanks BAE Systems for donating Wildcat and for providing the resources and expertise to support this project. Watch this space for future developments in Wildcat research.
Pictured from left to right are: Prof. Guy Houlsby, Head of Department
of Engineering Science; Prof. Ian Walmsley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor
(Research); Mr James Baker, Managing Director of BAE Systems Advanced
Technology Centre; Dr Paul Newman, Department of Engineering Science.
Pictured from left to right are members of the Wildcat research team:
Ben Davis; Gabe Sibley; Ingmar Posner; Alastair Harrison; Dr Paul
Newman.