Coventry-made vehicle wows crowds at global mobility conference

AN innovative driverless vehicle, designed and built in Coventry, has been wowing visitors to a French conference on Intelligent Mobility.

The pod, built by the RDM Group, was one of the highlights on the Transport Systems Catapult’s stand at the ITS Congress and Exhibition in Bordeaux.

The electric-powered Lutz Pathfinder, as the vehicle is called, is currently being trialed on the pavements of Milton Keynes as part of a pilot study into the practicalities of driverless vehicles in an urban environment.
 
Capable of up to 15mph and a range of 40 miles, the two-seater vehicle is currently having its autonomous control system installed at Oxford University’s Mobile Robotic Group.

The project is helping to put the UK at the forefront of driverless vehicle technology introduction.

Miles Garner, sales and marketing director at RDM Group, said: “This is one of, if not the biggest, intelligent mobility shows in the world and a fantastic platform to showcase how far we have progressed the Lutz Pathfinder project.

“Just recently we have completed and delivered the first pod and assembly of the other two vehicles is currently under way at our advanced engineering centre in Coventry.”

He said there had been a lot of interest in the group’s work and the feedback it had received from the conference had been encouraging.

“We’ve also chatted to a lot of foreign government officials and private sector companies about how we can solve their autonomous vehicle aspirations,” he added.