What is the Oxboticas Selenium? 

Selenium is Oxbotica’s autonomous control system. This is a vehicle operating system that will work on anything from forklift trucks, to delivery vehicles, lorries and cars. The software uses the knowledge of its precise location in the world, together with ambient information about the vehicles environment and then calculates and determines a safe path and appropriate speed to move the vehicle towards its goal.

There are three major questions that are essential requirements for all autonomous driving, that the vehicles system must be able to answer before it can enter into autonomous mode:

• Where am I?  The world is constantly changing. Selenium uses cameras and lasers to precisely pinpoint itself on a map, regardless of the weather and lighting conditions – localising itself without using any GPS.
• What’s around me? The system uses a complement of sensors and algorithms to identify and track pedestrians, cars and other obstacles in the environment.
• What do I do next? Knowing where it is and what’s around it, the system calculates a safe and efficient route to transport you to your destination.

Oxbotica is providing the Selenium autonomous control system to the GATEway project in Greenwich, London.  The software will drive 8 passenger carrying shuttle vehicles, which will be used by members of the public in a 2 month demonstration starting mid 2017.  They are also developing an exciting new concept of an autonomous commercial vehicle for “last mile” delivery, and this will also be demonstrated in Greenwich during mid-2017.