High-tech development company DARWIN will operate an innovative driverless shuttle at the prestigious Harwel Science & Innovation Campus. The experiment conducted in partnership with the insurer AVIVA, is monitoring the exercise to develop insurance premiums for autonomous vehicles. 

NAVYA a leading company in autonomous driving systems, has announced the first deployment on public roads in the UK at the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, a leading innovation centre.

NAVYA’s shuttle will transport employees and visitors 24/7 around this British science and technology hub. Located in Oxfordshire, England, the 700-acre Harwell Science & Innovation Campus hosts more than 6,000 people and 240 public and private organisations in three areas of expertise: space, renewable energy and health.    
 
The shuttle will be operated by DARWIN, a British company specialising in the application of cutting-edge technological research in the field of terrestrial and satellite communications.  DARWIN’s focus is to enable reliable connectivity on the move by combining terrestrial and satellite communications, with the aid of the European Space Agency, mobile provider O2 and satellite operator HISPASAT.

Insurance company AVIVA is also a partner and is presenting the shuttle at its headquarters in the City of London. AVIVA will use the results of DARWIN’s trial to evolve its insurance products to provide comprehensive coverage for autonomous vehicles and associated technologies.    

Commenting on the exercise Sophia Ward, Operations Manager at DARWIN, said: “We are delighted to have registered  NAVYA’s purpose-built connected autonomous shuttle for use on publicly accessible roads at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. This is a significant regulatory milestone on the road to making CAV mobility a reality, and an exciting step on our innovative journey to realising the potential of ubiquitous communications. We now look forward to announcing future trials involving this exciting new technology soon”.

Pierre Lahutte, CEO of NAVYA, added: “We are very pleased to be part of this trial at the renowned Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. This new deployment allows NAVYA to strengthen its technology with an additional use case in a complex environment and to contribute to the development of insurance practices for autonomous vehicles.“