Oxford-based technology company Oxbotica has launched its new Selenium mobile autonomy software solution, designed for driverless cars.

Oxbotica’s new software is “vehicle agnostic”

Selenium can work in pedestrianised environments as well as roads and motorways, and is not reliant on GPS to operate – meaning it can transition between indoor and outdoor settings, over ground or underground.

The system has been developed to be “vehicle agnostic” – meaning it can be applied to cars, self-driving pods (e.g. for campuses and airports), and warehouse truck fleets.

The software is designed to provide any vehicle it is applied to with an awareness of where it is, what surrounds it and, with that knowledge in hand, how it should move to complete a task.

The system uses patented algorithms, said to give vehicles a next generation level of intelligence to autonomously perform a range of mobility tasks, including motion control, braking, calibration, navigation, static and dynamic obstacle detection.

Selenium is set to be deployed at a series of autonomy trials where Oxbotica is the sole supplier of autonomy software, including the £8 million GATEway project in Greenwich and the LUTZ Pathfinder self-driving pod project in Milton Keynes.

Commenting on Selenium’s launch, Dr Graeme Smith, chief executive of Oxbotica, said: “Autonomous vehicles are the future and our new software is leading the field. Selenium represents the culmination of about 130 person years’ worth of work in mobile autonomy.

“Selenium is an important chapter in the ever-changing story of autonomous vehicles. As a result of the team’s hard work on Selenium, our customers are able to take full advantage of the benefits on offer from this futuristic technology today rather than tomorrow.”