INSIGHTS / News

Bristol engineering company’s pioneering sensor technology key part of Venturer bid

The innovative collision avoidance technology to be used in Bristol’s driverless car trials is to be provided by Bristol engineering company Fusion Processing Ltd.

Fusion is already well known for CycleEye, which can be installed on the sides of buses and HGVs and uses radar and sensor technology to alert them to cyclists in their blind spot.

Similar sensor technology and advanced processing systems developed by Fusion will play a key part in the Venturer consortium trials over the next 18-36 months.

Jim Hutchinson, CEO of Fusion Processing, said: “We are thrilled that Bristol has been selected by Innovate UK to become a test city for driverless cars, and we are delighted to be the ones providing the situational awareness and collision avoidance technology for it. Fusion Processing’s advanced sensor and processing systems will enable world leading vehicle capability, and ensure that Bristol, and the UK as a whole, remains at the forefront of this transformational technology.

“Thanks to the funding the VENTURER Consortium will receive, our vision will soon become a reality on the streets of our home city, which makes us extremely proud. It’s a great result for Bristol, and a huge step forward for the future of autonomous vehicles.”

The VENTURER consortium has secured funding from Innovate UK to test driverless cars in the Bristol area. This appointment follows yesterday’s Autumn statement announcement to make the UK a world centre for the testing and development of this new technology.

VENTURER is made up of companies in the South West of the UK which includes Atkins, Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council, AXA, Williams F1, BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre, Fusion Processing, the Centre for Transport & Society, the University of the West of England, the University of Bristol and West of England Local Enterprise Partnership.