Tata sets in motion the testing of Autonomous Hexa on UK roads

Words by Ajinkya Nair

A trial took place on UK’s public roads in Coventry for the largest testing of autonomous and connected cars, for the first time. Among the participants of the UK Autodrive project was our very own Tata with their self-driving Hexa SUV developed by Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC). UK Autodrive is an association which brings together automotive companies and the British government to test and develop autonomous and self-driving vehicles in UK. The organisation was set up a few years ago. Tata Motors and JLR have started out independent testing on these roads, but with trained drivers behind the wheel at all times just in case something goes wrong. Along with the Hexa, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) too have donated models for the project, namely the F-Pace and a Range Rover Sport.

These trials were conducted to test out how effective the autonomous technology would prove in real world driving conditions. Manufacturers integrate their latest tech onto existing cars to see how well they could possibly retrofit it in their current production vehicles. Along with this, the vehicles in the project also get Emergency Vehicle Warning (EVW) which detects signals from emergency vehicles like an ambulance, or a police vehicle. They also get Intersection Collision Warning (ICW) and Intersection Priority Management (IPM), and much more.