British autonomous technology company Aurrigo has held a four-day trial of its self-driving vehicles at Alnwick Castle as part of a major new study.
Led by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and consultancy BritainThinks, the ‘Great Self Driving Exploration’ project saw Aurrigo reveal its Auto-Deliver vehicle for the first time at the historic site in Northumberland.
The static display, held on the 19 and 20 June, gave locals the chance to explore the self-driving ‘grocery delivery’ vehicle, which is designed to change the way essential items are transported and received.
The vehicle completes multi-drops using password/QR-protected compartments, making them suitable for serving housing estates, university campuses or business parks.
The project marks the first time self-driving vehicles have been trialled in rural communities and saw Aurrigo’s Auto-Shuttle and Auto-Pod models also in operation.
Auto-Pod carried up to two passengers on a shared 500m path that connects Alnwick Gardens to Alnwick Castle, while Auto-Shuttle took a 1.2km (0.7-mile) route between the bus station and the castle, with live traffic and pedestrians, and carried up to six passengers at a time.
Both self-driving vehicles use a suite of sensors to understand their surroundings and are electric-powered.
Ricky Raines, operations manager at Aurrigo, said: “We believe these types of first- and last-mile transport is key to supporting people with mobility issues and this event will be extremely useful in helping understand how individuals in rural locations feel about self-driving technology and any changes that can be made to enhance the user experience.”
Aurrigo is currently completing other passenger trials in the UK.
