Company Co-Founded by Professor Ingmar Posner Launches Groundbreaking Driverless Vehicle Software

Oxbotica, a University of Oxford spin-out company co-founded by Pembroke Fellow Professor Ingmar Posner, has developed a brand new software solution that enables ordinary cars to become autonomous.

On 15th July, Oxbotica launched their new Selenium mobile autonomy software solution, which can work in outdoor and indoor settings as well as over ground or underground and does not rely on GPS. A video by Oxbotica demonstrating the software is available here.

The software works by managing to localise the vehicle in space while also perceiving its surroundings, which allows a central planner to decide how the car should move.

The story has been covered by national outlets including the BBC, who uploaded a video to their website in which the BBC's Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones is taken for a drive in one of their vehicles.

A full-length feature with in-depth detail on the system and how it functions can be found in the MIT Technology Review.

Pembroke has covered multiple stories featuring Prof. Posner's work on autonomous vehicle technology, most recently when the Mobile Robotics Group showcased their Selenium system at the Shell Eco-Marathon.

Oxbotica was founded by Professor Posner and Professor Paul Newman, both members of the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford and co-leaders of the Mobile Robotics Group. Incorporated in 2014, Oxbotica wall quickly recognised by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top ten EMEA technology startups in 2015.