Land Rover is Moving Forward With Self-Driving Off-Road Tech

Jaguar Land Rover is investing £3.7-million ($4.91-million USD) towards project Cortex.

Two years ago, the British automaker announced it was working on self-driving technology for off-roading and now it is committing millions to development. As the world’s first “Cortex” project, Land Rover aims to take self-driving cars off-road, ensuring they are fully capable of performing in any weather condition, be it dirt, rain, ice, snow, or fog. The system uses what Land Rover calls a “5D” technique that combines acoustic, video, radar, light detection, and distance sensing (LIDAR) data live in real-time. The combined data improves the awareness of the environment the vehicle is in, while machine learning will enable the self-driving car to behave in an increasingly sophisticated way.

SEE ALSO: Land Rover Working on Self-Driving Technology for Off-Roading

Like other automakers, Jaguar Land Rover is investing in self-driving tech but the automaker’s expertise with off-road vehicles will allow the technology extend beyond standard on-road usage. The goal is to make self-driving cars viable in on- and off-road driving environments and weather.

Joining the project are the University of Birmingham and Myrtle AI, machine learning experts.

“It’s important that we develop our self-driving vehicles with the same capability and performance customers expect from all Jaguars and Land Rovers,” said Chris Holmes, connected and autonomous vehicle research manager at Jaguar Land Rover. “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.”

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