A number of projects are set to receive a share of funding as part of the UK Government’s CAM Pathfinder programme, including an autonomous excavator, the expansion of a self-driving bus trial and autonomous vehicles for airports, highways and city streets.
The projects are expected to help to support innovation and commercial deployment across multiple UK regions, creating opportunities for high-value jobs, increasing productivity and strengthening domestic supply chains in the process.
Of the nine projects, Aurrigo has been awarded funding for its airside SENTRY project. Led by the company in partnership with WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) and oversight and guidance from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the project team will lead the design, build and testing of an autonomous vehicle in controlled environments before trials begin in real airport conditions at Teesside Airport.
Aurrigo’s project was awarded funding as a result of the CAM Pathfinder: Demonstrate competition, which has been run for the very first time.
The company, which recently moved into its new Advanced Engineering Centre in Coventry earlier this year, will use the CAM Pathfinder grant to deploy its Auto-Shuttle® vehicles to complete several routine tasks – including performing security patrols, routine perimeter inspections and counting birds and encouraging them to move somewhere safer.
They will also be used to inspect runway and taxiway surfaces for cracks, wear or spotting loose objects that can cause serious damage to an aircraft.
Simon Brewerton, Chief Technology Officer at Aurrigo International plc, said:Airports are busier and more hazardous than most passengers ever realise.
Away from the terminal, staff spend their days walking and driving around parked aircraft, along taxiways and up and down runways, checking for loose debris, chasing away birds, patrolling for security, and inspecting the roadways for damage. Much of this work happens in the dark, in wind and rain, and always with aircraft moving nearby.
SENTRY will investigate whether some of that work could be done by small autonomous vehicles that will navigate on their own, following a set of rules agreed in advance with air traffic control.
Working with our partners, we are developing the technology and building it into our Auto-Shuttle ® , which will firstly be deployed in controlled environments before operating in real
airport conditions at Teesside International Airport and at Cincinnati in North America.
Both Demonstrate and Enable form part of the UK Government’s CAM Pathfinder programme, announced in the Industrial Strategy Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan with the aim of growing the UK’s 3.7 billion GBP Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) industry. The programme is delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) in partnership with Zenzic and Innovate UK.
Projects funded by Enable include:
- Highly Automated Excavators for Autonomous Earthmoving – Led by Flannery and Gravis Robotics, the project will see the businesses trial a first-of-its-kind, fully autonomous earthmoving system installed across six excavators, enabling autonomous trenching, bulk excavation, and truck loading
- Commercialising Connector – Led by Cambridgeshire County Council, in partnership with Alexander Dennis, Anthrometric Solutions, Coriva, Fusion Procession and Whippet Coaches, the Commercialising Connector project aims to progress the technology and vehicles utilised by the connector project from level three autonomy to level four
Projects funded by Demonstrate include:
- Dynamic Braking for Autonomous Vehicles (D-BrAVe) – Led by Alcon Advanced Technologies with support from the University of Surrey and EVIE Autonomous, the project aims to deliver a commercially scalable, fail‑operational Brake‑By‑Wire (BBW) system with Anti‑Lock Braking (ABS) and provisional Electronic Stability Control (ESC) specifically designed for No‑User‑In‑Charge (NUIC) Level‑4 autonomous vehicles
- Airside Sentry – Led by Aurrigo in partnership with WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group), with oversight and guidance from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the project team will design, build, and test an autonomous vehicle in controlled environments before trialling it in real airport conditions at Teesside Airport
- Accelerating the Development of L4 Autonomous Vehicles with Photorealistic Simulation at Scale – Led by Five AI, the project aims to strengthen UK Autonomous Vehicle competitiveness by advancing tools and methods that support commercial deployment of Level 4 AVs
- Automated Highway Maintenance Vehicles Phase 2 – A partnership between Ringway, Fusion Processing and Econ Engineering, the project will see the consortium develop and trial an Automated Impact Protection Vehicle (AIPV) and Automated Winter Gritter (AGritter) equipped with automated driving, crash‑attenuation systems, specialist highway maintenance functionality and integrated spreading control systems
- DRIVEN BY SOUND+ – Led by Calyo, in partnership with Benedex and Cranfield University, the project aims to explore and develop an all‑weather perception subsystem for reliable automated driving across environments
- ADventure – Led by Nissan and WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group), the ADventure project aims to develop a city‑ready autonomous mobility service model enabling safe commercial deployment in urban environments
- 5D RADAR PERCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENT DRIVING (5D RAPID) – Led by Oxford RF, in partnership with IPG Automotive, Ecosar Tech, HALO DRIVE, Coventry University and Cranfield University, 5D RAPID aims to develop advanced 5D radar technology for safer automated driving, enabling cost-effective vehicle perception, and strengthening the UK CAM supply chain
