Europe Plans Autonomous Track Days
Burney Simpson
Europe plans to hold a series of autonomous vehicle track days starting this November 15-16 at the Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire in the United Kingdom.
The Self Driving Track Days (SDTD) are the first of their kind in Europe, according to event organizer Sense Media Events.
The first four track days are scheduled for tracks in the UK, Austria and France. Plans call for them to continue every quarter across the Continent.
The track days offer a public venue where developers, mechanics, engineers, manufacturers, and hobbyists can gather and test their technology on safe grounds away from the office or garage. The events are open to researchers but not to spectators.
“Teams at commercial, academic or hobbyist level can explore autonomous vehicle technology in a safe, affordable and collaborative environment, and have access to specialist training that only experienced industry professionals can deliver,” Alex Lawrence-Berkeley, co-founder of the SDTD and a Sense Media marketing manager said in a release.
NO RACING
Organizers have set safety standards for the events. All vehicles must have a ‘kill switch’ that can be operated remotely; drivers and passengers must wear helmets, gloves and boots; the event “will not at any time, include any element of racing,” are a few of the listed rules.
The European track days follows an Autonomous Track Day held last May at the Thunderhill Raceway Park in Northern California (See “Driverless Innovators Gather at Autonomous Track Day”).
Joshua Schachter and leaders from Harbrick (now PolySync), Renovo, and Innovect organized the Thunderhill event. It brought in firms active in autonomous vehicles, drivetrain innovation, sensors and cameras, software and algorithms, and connected cars.
The schedule for Self Driving Track Days includes:
- Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, Leicestershire, UK, November 15-16; includes 1.6 km multilane motorway straight;
- Driving Center Castellet, Provence, France, February 21-22, 2017; racing circuit with separate handling areas;
- Longcross Test Track, Surrey, UK, May 10-11, 2017; surfaced and unsurfaced test circuits;
- Zentrum Teesdorf, Vienna, Austria, July 28-29, 2017; flagship event with four circuits, including a road-training center, handling circuit, off-road area and others, plus multiple face-to-face training workshops, networking.
Organizers are also holding free meet-ups on the SDTD September 16 at Google Campus London and September 20 at AutoWorld Brussels.
Sense Media is the organizer of the AutoSens Conference being held September 20-22 in Brussels.
Photo: Zentrum Teesdorf track.