The ‘Living Lab’ is designed to help organisations bring solutions to market faster by enabling them to be trialled and validated in a real-life environment. Vehicle manufacturers, OEMs and tech developers can use it to assist with research and development, concept testing and validation, launching new technology or services, and understanding how new technology is perceived.
TRL has identified three challenges facing the CAV market; the choice and variety of technologies available to manufacturers, the rate at which the capacity and speed of those technologies are developing and the automotive industry’s ability to adapt quickly enough to capitalise on the opportunities this presents. It says the Living Lab aims to help organisations address these challenges by providing an open innovation environment in which industry, academia and the public sector can collaborate to accelerate the development of safe, efficient and effective CAV systems.
“Many organisations are testing autonomous systems in dedicated off-street facilities, but the success of these vehicles largely depends on how they integrate into real world living environments, alongside existing transport services,” said Rob Wallis, CEO of TRL. “By providing a welcoming and real-life regulatory environment for testing, TRL can help accelerate the adoption of new technology and enable the UK to play a pivotal role in the development of this global market over the next five years.”