UK-based autonomous vehicle specialists Aurrigo is celebrating an international boost to its business after securing over £1.5m of orders from across the world.
The firm said it has seen demand for its driverless pods improve following the successful completion of major trials in the UK and Australia.
The Coventry-based firm, which has created a four wheeled pod for ‘first and last mile’ transport, teamed up with Blind Veterans UK for ‘world first’ trial earlier in the year.
Its international sales have come from customers in Australia, Canada, Finland, Singapore and the US. Its latest deal see one of its ‘Pod Zeros’ heading to China.
The growth takes its annual sales up to £4.2m and, with a predicted £6m further of contracts between now and the end of 2020.
“Our Pod Zeros have been in development for several years and, thanks to trials with UK Autodrive, Blind Veterans UK and Elliot Gardens in Australia, we have been able to refine the autonomous technology on real world applications,” said David Keene, Chief Executive of Aurrigo.
“This has helped us prove to potential customers across the globe that we offer a viable, safe and cost-effective solution for ‘first and last mile’ transport issues and our pods are now in operation at Universities, Airports and Innovation Districts. There has even been talk about putting one of them into a shopping centre in the Middle East.”
He went on to add: “We have really invested in our global presence, creating offices in Houston, Ottawa and in Adelaide, whilst the current strategy is to build our network of distributors. This is proving extremely successful, with deals already agreed in Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.”
Aurrigo is the autonomous vehicle division of RDM Group, with the latter boasting 26 years’ experience in providing advanced automotive technology design solutions to major vehicle OEMs.
The company’s ‘Pod Zero’ seats four people and travels at a maximum speed of 15mph off road and will run for 60 miles on a single charge. Customers can buy the full ‘autonomous’ pod or just purchase the platform and then fit their own autonomous control system.
David concluded: “At the last count we’ve got 30 pods operational across the world and this number could double in 2020.“We’re now looking at applying our solutions to other applications, most noticeably a 12-seater autonomous shuttle in Cambridge and the world’s first autonomous luggage dolly, which is currently being trialled at Terminal 5, Heathrow.”