June 15, 2018—Jaguar Land Rover is developing off-road self-driving SUVs in project Cortex.

The world-first ‘CORTEX’ project will take self-driving cars off-road, ensuring they are fully capable in any weather condition: dirt, rain, ice, snow or fog. As part of the project, a ‘5D’ technique combining acoustic, video, radar, light detection and distance sensing (LiDAR) data live in real-time is being engineered.

CORTEX will develop the technology through algorithm development, sensor optimisation and physical testing on off-road tracks in the UK. The University of Birmingham, with its world leading research in radar and sensing for autonomous platforms and Myrtle AI, machine learning experts, join the project. CORTEX was announced as part of Innovate UK’s third round of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Funding in March 2018.

In the U.S., autonomous vehicles will be tested on various terrain in Ohio. Guy Coviello, vice president of government affairs for the Regional Chamber and a member of the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission, said the region has physical attributes like two-lane, four-lane, roundabouts, flat, hilly, urban, rural, suburban and every type of weather necessary.