SD Advanced Engineering
for education, testing & trials

We accelerate your ambitions and help you achieve your goals on the autonomous journey

OVERVIEW_

Fast, successful, autonomous trials with open-source software

Whether you’re planning a future mobility trial on the public road, working on projects that require real data on an autonomous vehicle on public/private roads or wanting to test out a fully autonomous MaaS business model, our engineers are ready to answer any questions you might have and to support you on your autonomous journey.

Our expert deployment team is ready and waiting to help get your vehicles on the road. Before a wheel turns, our specialist engineers can help to build a full deployment road-map, centred around your specialist use-case and trial goals. Read on to discover what our process looks like.

BUILD_

01

Scoping an "ODD"

Arguably the most important step of the process when setting up an autonomous vehicle trial, is defining an operational design domain (“ODD”). The ODD defines the environment in which the vehicle(s) will operate, and the behaviour within that environment.

The ODD is chosen with the help of SD Advanced Engineering expert deployment and safety engineers, who will ensure that the ODD meets your trial aims and objectives.

02

Specifying the Software

To achieve the behaviour defined by the ODD above, SD Advanced Engineering will help you select a range of proprietary and enterprise open-source autonomous software modules. If needs be, our specialist team can further cater these to your specific use-case.

03

Specifying the Hardware

Once software modules are selected, we define a hardware specification to meet your use-case. Choose from our flagship R&D trials platform, the e-NV200, or choose our lightweight Twizy 2-seater EV. Each vehicle is fitted with sensors and computation to deliver the self-driving functionality.

Our self-driving technology is designed to be transferred to any vehicle, so our engineering team can implement our control systems on a vehicle of your choice.

04

Building Complementary Tech Integrations

SD Advanced Engineering has a range of complementary tech integrations to maximise the efficiency and output of your self-driving trial.

Whether it be an analytics package, data storage facility or mission control application from our partners Bestmile, we can make sure that your technology meets the state of the art.

05

Building a Safety Case and Validation plan

The combination of ODD, software and hardware (the latter two known as VDD), needs to have a robust safety case before deployment. This safety case is in line with location specific best practices such as the DfT code of practice for driverless testing.

Furthermore, SD Advanced Engineering will plan a validation schedule, in simulation, bench testing and proving ground to ensure that a fully justified safety case is developed.

Download our safety approach

06

Getting Vehicles on the Road

Once you’re ready to roll, SD Advanced Engineering can provide the technical resource to make your deployment as smooth as possible. From safety drivers to monitoring autonomous engineers, the SD Advanced Engineering team is on hand to get you rolling. Our onsite teams can be complemented with an array of remote support options.

If you want to build your own technical expertise, choose from our training options in safety driving, deployment and data collection.

Download our safety approach

APPROACH_

Our full stack approach means you can jump into deployment quickly and easily

Our expert deployment team is ready and waiting to help get your vehicles on the road. Before a wheel turns, our specialist engineers can help to build a validation plan in line with local guidelines and regulations, to build this into a full safety case for specific operational design domains.

Our education programme is flexible as we know each institutions requirements vary. Our products and services aim to provide the platform for your researchers and students as they continue to shape the autonomous technology world. SD Advanced Engineering can get you started quickly and easily.

Ensure a leading safety approach to trial

  • Best practice approach at all levels of the stack
  • Cyber-security resilience tests available via partners
  • World leading drive-by-wire safety case

Supports UK DfT rules on data access

  • Get help from experts in embedded, safety and self-driving soft-use-case-ware
  • Build a trial bespoke to your application

Save months of development and deployment time

  • Our trials are quick to start, and our leveraging of open-source software, reduces costs to entry

PARTNERS_

Partnering with...

RELATED_

SD Advanced Engineering in Education

Read about how the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) had been extremely willing to embrace autonomous vehicle engineering into its Formula Student programme.
BLOG

Smart Mobility Living Lab

SD Advanced Engineering trialled an open-source self-driving stack for the first time on European public roads at Woolwich Arsenal in London.
CASE STUDY

2020 Safety Report

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