Autonomous vehicle solutions
Oxbotica’s vehicle autonomy solutions are designed to create a cleaner, safer, more accessible future. Their technology enables vehicles to navigate, understand and act in any environment, without dependence on external infrastructure including GPS or lane markings thus providing autonomy solutions for a variety of vehicle platforms and environments from city streets to country lanes.
The technology has low power requirements and uses best in class laser vision and radar for localisation and perception for redundancy and safety purposes.
OPD worked with Oxbotica to design and build working prototype hardware and technology demonstrators to be mounted on vehicles for live testing of the autonomous vehicle software.
We were tasked with designing front and rear facing modules for Oxbotica’s Ford Mondeo fleet, housing stereoscopic cameras, lidar modules and GSM antenna. We used 3D scanning to capture the geometry of the cars roof and rack such that the custom components could be formed to blend into the perfectly. Drilling into the roof of a brand-new car required a steady hand but knowing the geometry had been captured accurately helped steady the nerves!
It’s important that the Oxbotica’s vehicles can operate in all weather conditions. We designed the modules to prevent rain ingress at motorway speeds while maintaining sufficient ventilation to avoid internal condensation. We utilised a combination of sheet metal and 3D printing technologies to limit the capital investment required and fit the production lead times into Oxbotica’s fast-moving schedule.