‌Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) will play a significant role in future transport systems and unlock enormous social benefits at the same time. Wireless connectivity is one of the underpinning technologies allowing the CAVs to transform from autonomous systems to cooperative entities. Not only is the information exchange  between all components of the system fundamental to improve road safety and efficiency, but it also paves the way to a wide spectrum of advanced ITS (Intelligent transportation systems) applications enhancing efficiency, mobility and accessibility. Co-operation among autonomous vehicles is enabled by exchanging sensory data and manoeuvring intentions in a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) fashion. Cooperative CAVs are also the key enabler of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) paradigm which optimises the journey focusing on the user and outcome.  

CAVs (and all other vehicles) form highly intermittent, ad-hoc and obviously mobile networks. This is arguably the most hostile mixture of conditions to sustain ubiquitous and reliable wireless connectivity, even before we demand the need for low latency. Security by design is an absolute prerequisite for any cooperative systems, with CAVs demanding the highest possible standards.

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‌‌FLOURISH looks to enable the delivery of many of these benefits by helping to ensure that connected and autonomous vehicles are developed with the user in mind and are technically secure, trustworthy and private. CSN group provides its expertise in dependable V2X connectivity including security, privacy and trust. The group leads the effort in designing new services based on connectivity which will be crucial for the future CAV deployments.  ‌

FLOURISH is funded by Innovate UK with a total budget of £5.5M. The consortium consists of the following partners:  

• Atkins: lead partner providing project management, transport modelling and intelligent mobility expertise;
• Age UK: a ‘critical friend’ to FLOURISH supporting the social research elements of the project;
• Airbus Group Innovations: will provide cyber operations and data fusion expertise;
• Aiseedo: neural network technology specialists supporting the development of a data fusion engine;
• AXA: will provide insurance and legal expertise;
• Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council: will provide on-road trials support and drive local community engagement;
• Designability: to develop Human Machine Interfaces for use in a vehicular environment;
• Dynniq: to develop technology for use by connected vehicles and a city based dashboard for use by network operators;
• OPM Group: will provide research support relating to user needs and public acceptance;
• Transport Simulation Systems: to develop a network operations model for modelling CAVs;
• Transport Systems Catapult: to develop Human Machine Interfaces and provide support for simulated and real world testing;
• University of Bristol: lead on dependable wireless communication systems and support real-world testing;
• University of the West of England: will conduct research into user needs and experiences of CAVs and will be involved in the development of Human Machine Interfaces.