Siemens to make autonomous hillclimb

Siemens will attempt an historic autonomous classic car hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018.

The technology and engineering firm, which is also displaying latest projects at the FOS Future Lab, is bidding to complete the 1.86km track in a road car without human direction for the first time.

Siemens has teamed up with engineers from Cranfield University to create an autonomous sports car capable of racing up the Goodwood hill to mark the Festival’s 25 anniversary.

The Siemens Autonomous hillclimb will be attempted on 12 July and will be repeated twice every day until the end of the Festival on 15 July. The classic car will also be wrapped in a special silver design to mark the 25 anniversary and feature cameras mounted inside and out to livestream the demo onto screens around the Goodwood estate.

Safety regulations mean a non-active ‘driver’ will be in the driving seat but will only take over if there’s a safety or mechanical issue during the run.

Siemens aims to move autonomous technology forwards for industrial applications such as factory-based robots. Increased autonomy is coming to the cars of the future including sending and receiving signals from vehicles to road signs and objects in the road, which has potential efficiency and safety applications in both racing and in domestic driving situations.

‘The duke of Richmond and Gordon at Goodwood Festival of Speed said, ‘Siemens has combined a classic car with the most advanced autonomous technology which, in our 25 anniversary year, highlights just what the Festival of Speed is all about, a celebration of automotive technology, past, present and future.’