SCALE

Solihull Council heads up the regional consortium delivering SCALE. Linked to its wider ‘future mobility’ project, Solihull Council is already playing a key role in the study and deployment of CAV technology on our roads. In 2021 it became the first local authority in the country to purchase its own autonomous shuttle, delivering a series of successful pathfinder deployments at Birmingham Airport, the NEC and Birmingham Business Park. Drawing on their expertise in this sector, Solihull Council will assume the role of overall project management and lead on communication and stakeholder management, as well as overseeing infrastructure installation.

Coventry City Council will support SCALE through service design development, looking at future CAM service and business case development. It will also act as the 5G Trial co-ordinator for the project. Coventry City Council has an established track record of working in collaboration with neighbouring Solihull Council to deliver a range of successful cross area services and initiatives, and is a fellow constituent authority of the WMCA (West Midlands Combined Authority).

One of the Midlands’ leading higher education providers with a strong reputation built within the aerospace & aviation, automotive, architecture and healthcare sectors.

Coventry University will lead on real world automotive testing and analysis of the vehicles at its state-of-the-art MIRA CAV testing facility. The University team will look at cyber security and resistance to malware and malicious interference as well as Human Machine Interface analysis and testing and Human factors analysis in terms of human performance when operating the Lift vehicle.

dRISK design tests for Autonomous vehicles. Working with insurers, manufacturers, policy makers and software partners to develop the future of autonomous vehicle development. They will be responsible for providing data and intelligent analysis to shape the simulation testing and real-world deployment of the vehicles.

Direct Line Group is one of the largest insurance companies in the UK and home to leading insurance brands including Churchill, Direct Line and Green Flag. Combined, they have over 9 million current policies in the UK. DLG will support SCALE in dissecting the vehicles both physically and operationally to understand their insurability. Every component will be checked and examined to understand how these vehicles can be insured and repaired in the future. Their findings will not only inform their own future work, but also the wider sector.

Based in Solihull, IPG are a simulation and testing specialist for the Automotive industry. IPG Specialise in creating virtual environments and testing vehicle operation and durability in a simulated world. IPG can run hundreds of thousands of iterative tests to understand vehicle behaviour in an unlimited number of scenarios. With input from Ohmio, d(RISK) and WMG they will be putting the Ohmio vehicle through tens of thousands of simulated tests using cutting edge computer programming and AI.

Their work helps the consortium to understand how the vehicle (both physically and operationally) will behave in every conceivable condition and scenario. This then informs the project - from safety planning right the way through to component durability.

NEC Birmingham, with over 2.3 million visitors per year, will play host to the SCALE project. As well as hosting a key section of the deployment and providing storage for the vehicles, NEC Group will use the opportunity to enhance its knowledge of autonomous vehicle deployment within its operation. This will help inform future deployment options.

Ohmio is a New Zealand based Autonomous Vehicle Manufacturer and is represented in the UK by its subsidiary company Ohmio UK. Ohmio is a sister business of HMI Technologies. The SCALE fleet will consist of three Ohmio ‘Lift’ vehicles. The Lift is Ohmio's flagship autonomous shuttle capable of carrying up to 20 passengers. It is a completely modular and flexible autonomous platform with systems that can be added or removed based on its intended deployment. Ohmio Lift is a complete Level 4+ autonomous shuttle solution.

Transport for West Midlands is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority, with bus franchising and highway management powers. TfWM will lead on customer experience insight and development (Insight led), ticketing and human machine Interface, Operational Delivery post-Ohmio handover, NEC Driver supply and service delivery and play the key role of service operator after handover.

WMG is an academic department of the University of Warwick and is a leading international role model for successful collaboration between academia and the public/private sectors, driving innovation in science, technology, and engineering.

WMG will be supporting the safety assurance of the SCALE Operational Safety Case, development and analysis of the testing plan and will provide internal project support and expertise in the areas of hazard analysis, vehicle testing and operational safety.

Zenzic was established by government and industry to champion the UK Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) ecosystem. As a collaborative organisation, Zenzic strives to place the UK at the forefront of the global CAM revolution by promoting innovation and enabling UK organisations to make significant contributions to the future of mobility.

An automated shuttle (also known as a self-driving or vehicle), is a vehicle, capable of carrying multiple passengers, that uses a range of sensors to understand its surroundings – allowing it to move around safely with little or no operator input. The SCALE fleet will consist of three Ohmio ‘Lift’ vehicles. The Lift is Ohmio's flagship autonomous shuttle capable of carrying up to 20 passengers

The shuttles are aware of their environment via a range of sophisticated cameras and sensors – this means they have the ability to stop themselves in an emergency or if there is an unexpected hazard in the road. In line with current UK legislation there will also a safety operator on-board at all times who is able to take full control of the vehicle at any time.

The shuttles are fully electric and have a range of 125 miles. They will be charged at the end of each day.

The shuttles are capable of operating at up to 25mph in autonomous mode, but will be limited to 15pmh for the purpose of the trial (in line with the NEC speed limit).

Although the safety operator has the ability to take control of the shuttle in an emergency, they will not be operating the shuttle on the majority of the route. The route has been pre-mapped so the vehicles are aware of their environment – this means they have the ability to stop themselves in an emergency or if there is an unexpected hazard in the road.

The goal for this technology is to remove the need for a safety operator within the vehicle in the future, instead allowing them to be remotely monitored from a control room.

The trial route will be expanded in phases, eventually linking up Birmingham Internation rail station to Birmingham Business Park via the NEC campus. Onsite testing is currently underway but operational details, including timetables and route maps will be announced shortly.

Grant funding for this multi-million pound project has been provided by the Department for Transport’s Centre for Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). SCALE is one of just 6 pathfinder projects in the country to secure funding via CCAVs Deployment competition. As part of this, Solihull Council will receive £579,260 of grant-funding to deliver the project, as well as oversee installation of specialist roadside technology to allow the smooth running of the vehicles. Additional contributions will be provided via the project’s private sector consortium members.

The shuttle is fully accessible to wheelchair users. It is equipped with an integrated ramp, a floor anchor and restraint system.

Led by Solihull Council, the project is being delivered by consortium including both the University of Warwick and Coventry University, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the NEC and several leading autonomous vehicle industry specialists.

The success of these trials will provide knowledge and experience of self-driving vehicles in a real-world environment, meaning that they could be rolled-out elsewhere in Solihull or as part of a permanent route in the future.