Public Funding for Titan Motorsport & Automotive Engineering Ltd

Titan, Alexander Dennis and TRL will work together to develop and demonstrate an electric steering system for bus and other heavy commercial vehicle applications. An approach will be developed that provides a flexible and cost effective approach to enabling innovative low volume manufacturers to bring autonomous steering features to market quickly and safely. Advanced safety features will be designed-in from the start and verified through laboratory and proving ground testing with the aim of creating a system that is capable of supporting up to Level 5 autonomy. A new electric steering system will be designed and manufactured that augments the conventional hydraulic power steering of the demonstrator bus. Taking commands from an automated driver system, this electric steering system will be capable of controlling the steering and providing a level of assistance in case the hydraulic system should fail. This prototype electric steering system will be fitted to a bus to create a mobile test-bed, enabling the capabilities to be thoroughly tested and demonstrated.

PLENUM will develop and productionise "REEcorner Technology" that will enable a radical redesign of light- and medium-sized electric commercial and MaaS vehicles. The vision is to use single wheel x-by-wire (steering, drive and braking) to remove the physical connection between the driver's controls and the wheels. This will enable traditional vehicle drive components (steering, braking, suspension, powertrain and control) to be packaged into a single module located into the arch of the wheel.

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"**AID-CAV** brings together four UK SMEs with two research organisations to develop some of the key ""vehicle platform"" technologies that will be required for the rapid development of the next generation of autonomous vehicles -- vehicles that will have enhanced capability and performance. Lead partner Delta Motorsport will develop its existing vehicle dynamics control framework to make it suitable for autonomous vehicles based on the extended control authority it will have -- not just traction motor(s) but steering and brakes as well. Delta will convert one of its E-4 Coupe electric vehicles such that it can be used by the consortium to validate the hardware and software being developed. Titan and WMG will develop a bespoke high-performance servo motor which, combined with a new power electronics controller, will create a high-reliability steering mechanism featuring the appropriate level of redundancy for L5 autonomy. This development will build on Titan's existing knowledge of EPAS systems in the niche automotive and motorsport sectors to provide steer-by-wire (SBW). Working closely with Titan, WMG will bring significant expertise to the project in advanced power electronics solutions, together with electric motor design, manufacturing processes and implementation. Alcon will enhance its existing motorsport braking systems by combining the functions of brake actuation and ABS modulation (including brake-by-wire, BBW) into a single device. System response is improved (and thus system performance and safety) while reducing weight and complexity. Calibration is also simplified, reducing the risk of negative interaction between the two sub-systems. Cranfield will develop an autonomous driving controller accounting for the complex vehicle dynamic behaviour in limit handling conditions and exploiting the enhanced control authority available through multiple actuators (allowing individual wheel torque control) and the novel flexible control architecture. Potenza will develop the safety case for the system architecture and thus for the sub-systems, using an out-of-context methodology to provide a template for applying the systems to other vehicles. The technologies will be developed within the framework of ISO26262 Edition 2 and will be designed to meet the derived safety requirements. All systems will have the necessary flexibility to adapt -- quickly and at relatively low cost -- to a wide range of vehicles, including small cars, trucks, off-highway and high-performance vehicles."