Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed that it's expanding its presence in the west of Ireland with a new development hub called the Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI).
JLR has had a software development office in Shannon for some time now, working on technology for connected and autonomous vehicles, but this announcement will see the tech moving out of the lab and onto the road.
JLR says that its new hub "will allow real-world testing of connected technology where self-driving vehicles share the streets with cars, pedestrians and cyclists." A 12km loop of public roads will be used initially, and electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, suitably modified, will be the initial wheels guinea pigs. "The testbed will advance Jaguar Land Rover's research into autonomous, connected, electrified and shared vehicles - a key part of the company's commitment to making societies safer and healthier with pioneering technology," said a Jaguar Land Rover statement.
That 12km loop will be festooned with sensors, allowing for highly accurate location-finding for each vehicle, as well as a data management and control centre to run the whole operation. 'Smart' junctions will be included, as will 'connected' roads, autonomous parking locations and electric vehicle charging points. There will also be access to some 450km of connected roads along the west coast, and a special air corridor that will allow vehicle-monitoring drone aircraft to fly in and out of Shannon Airport.
Jaguar Land Rover is a lead partner of the FMCI and will collaborate with a host of other global technology companies to develop the facility, including Cisco, Seagate, Renovo, Red Hat, Valeo and Mergon. Traditionally such testing sites have been established overseas. The FMCI provides Jaguar Land Rover with a key research site next to an existing facility: its Shannon software hub.
John Cormican, General Manager for Shannon Ireland Jaguar Land Rover, said: "This partnership with FMCI provides us with a real-world facility to trial our emerging autonomous, connected, electrified and shared technology in a strategic location. Collaborating with top-tier software companies will allow us to develop our future systems more efficiently."
Russell Vickers, CEO of FMCI, said: "The smart city zone provides a first-class facility for global companies to work together and develop world-leading technology, from autonomous vehicles to connected infrastructure. The testbed provides an opportunity to test in the real world and help answer some of the questions posed by the future of mobility in a collaborative and efficient way."