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Ricardo joins intelligent transport project

Engineering consultancy Ricardo has joined forces with mopbile telecoms operator Orange Business Services, Land Rover, the UK mapping agency Ordnance Survey and transport research group TRL in a project to use intelligent transport systems (ITS) to improve the efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of road transport.

The Sentience partnership is part-funded by InnovITS, the UK government agency set up to accelerate deployment of ITS technologies and fuel UK business growth in ITS products and services.

The project has the end goal of developing advanced vehicles which can use technologies such as GPS and telemetry to improve fuel efficiency and emissions.

Ricardo together with Land Rover is looking at how to make the vehicles more fuel efficient. Hybrid vehicles that can use both rechargeable battery power and a petrol or diesel engine to maximise efficiency as well as capturing and "recycling" energy which would otherwise be lost in braking, are already available on the market.

But, says Ricardo, this technology could deliver further benefits if the vehicle's control systems could be aware of its surroundings and hence adapt its mode of operation depending on upcoming gradients, junctions, and known areas of congestion.

The UK is particularly affected by road congestion, with the cost to the economy estimated by the Confederation of British Industry to be up to £20 billion.

Tom Robinson, senior product group manager, control and electronics, Ricardo, comments: "Even with the green push towards getting people off the roads or using alternative modes of transport, we are seeing an increase in vehicles on the roads and even more traffic. A two part system which looks at the way vehicles are engineered and routed as well as how our roads are monitored and managed, offers a realistic long-term pathway to help alleviate the UK's fuel emissions and reduce congestion. Sentience brings together the best of breed in automotive knowledge with advanced tracking and mapping technology."

Orange and Ordnance Survey are heading up the telematics and mapping part of the project, using their breadth of network to develop GPS, machine to machine and mapping applications to provide vehicles with information to optimise performance and lower emissions.

TRL will be contributing to the research throughout the project and will be leading the testing and assessment phase. This will involve undertaking trials to assess the benefits of the vehicle fitted with the prototype engine control system at the TRL test track.

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