Oxa (formerly Oxbotica) is an

autonomous vehicle Vehicular automation is using technology to assist or replace the operator of a vehicle such as a car, truck, aircraft, rocket, military vehicle, or boat. Assisted vehicles are ''semi-autonomous'', whereas vehicles that can travel without a ...

software company, headquartered in

Oxfordshire, England Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershi ...

, and founded by

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

and Ingmar Posner.

History

In 2013, Newman and Posner led the RobotCar UK project as part of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

's Department of Engineering Science Mobile Robotics Group. RobotCar became the first

on UK roads. In 2014, the pair used the newly developed technology to found Oxbotica. Oxbotica has raised over $18 million to date and is backed by the IP Group, Parkwalk Advisors and

AXA XL Axa XL is an American subsidiary of global insurance and reinsurance company Axa. It is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, domiciled in Hamilton, Bermuda, and has more than 100 offices on 6 continents. In 2016, the company wrote $13.890 b ...

. In 2018, Uber's former Head of Business EMEA Fraser Robinson was appointed to the board of directors. In May 2019, Ozgur Tohumcu replaced Dr Graeme Smith as Oxbotica's CEO. Also in 2019, the company opened an office in Toronto, Canada. In January 2021, Oxbotica announced it had raised $47 million in a Series B round. In August 2021, the company achieved a safety landmark as the first company to have its autonomy safety case assessed by BSI (

British Standards Institution The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the Standards organization, national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies standards certification services ...

) against the requirements of the UK Code of Practice 2019, PAS 1881:2020 and PAS 1883:2020, certifying the safety conformity of its autonomous vehicle trials and testing. The assessment was completed as part of Project Endeavour, the UK's first multi-city demonstration of autonomous vehicle services and capability. In December 2021, Gavin Jackson was named CEO. In January 2023, the company raised $140 million in a Series C round. In May 2023, the company changed its name to Oxa.

Technology

Oxbotica's full stack, end-to-end Universal Autonomy software is both vehicle and platform-agnostic, with no dependence on external infrastructure such as

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

. It can be deployed in any environment and on any terrain. In addition to underground uses, the technology is also useful in natural canyons and forests, where GPS signals are weak or non-existent, but also in "urban canyons" - cities with tall buildings that obstruct GPS signals for proper navigation.

Public deployments

The LUTZ Pathfinder pod had its first public demonstration in February 2015 in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

. The Government-funded project was designed to ensure that autonomous vehicles could comply with the

Highway Code ''The Highway Code'' is the official set of information and guidance for road users in the United Kingdom. Its objective is to promote the safe and efficient use of the road network. The Code applies to al ...

. The pod featured autonomous control software from Oxbotica, including 19 sensors, cameras, radar and

Lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

. As part of the GATEway Project in 2017, Oxbotica trialled seven autonomous shuttle buses in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, navigating a two-mile riverside path near London's

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on a route also used by pedestrians and cyclists. Oxbotica ran the UK's first trial of autonomous grocery deliveries with British online supermarket

Ocado Ocado Group plc ( ) is a British business based in Hatfield, England, which licenses grocery technology. It also owns a 50% share in the UK grocery retail business Ocado.com (the other 50% is owned by UK retailer Marks & Spencer). The company ...

in London as the next evolution of the GATEway Project. In 2018, Oxbotica deployed its

software at London's

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

, which subsequently became the first airport in the world to trial an autonomous shuttle service. The electric-powered autonomous vehicles transported staff via airside roads between the airport's North and South terminals. An airside trial of Oxbotica's technology was then successfully completed at Heathrow Airport in partnership with IAG Cargo, the first airside trial of an autonomous vehicle at a UK airport. The Oxbotica-designed CargoPod ran autonomously along a cargo route around the airside perimeter for three weeks. As part of the UK Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles-funded DRIVEN project, Oxbotica is developing and deploying a fleet of

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Fusion autonomous vehicles running in both London and Oxford on public roads, and in conjunction with its consortium partners, running real-time insurance.

is partnering with Oxbotica on the development of smart insurance products using Oxbotica's autonomy technology to improve road safety. In 2018, Oxbotica announced a partnership with London taxi firm

Addison Lee Addison Lee is a British private hire car and courier company headquartered in London, England. The company was founded in 1975 by John Griffin. It has become one of London's largest private hire companies, handling millions of rides annually. ...

to develop and deploy autonomous taxis in the city of London by 2021. A 3D street mapping exercise is already being conducted in London's

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

. In 2019, Oxbotica deployed a fleet of their autonomous technology within

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a Mid-size/large family car, large (D-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford since 1993 across five generations for model years 1993-2022. As Ford self-declared world car, the Mondeo was intended to ...

cars on public roads in

Stratford, London Stratford is a town and district of West Ham, East London, England, in the London Borough of Newham. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, it is northeast of Charing Cross, and includes Maryland and East Village. Historically an ancient parish in ...

to test their use in city environments. This £13.2m project is in collaboration with The DRIVEN Project to develop self-driving cars.

Awards

2019 *

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

Silver Medal - Paul Newman 2017 *

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Award *

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

Award for Innovation 2016 *

Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan is an American business consulting firm. It offers market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting, and corporate training. It has about 45 offices in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe; the principal office is in Sa ...

Award, Technology Leadership for Autonomous Driving Software

References

External links

{{authority control Robotics companies Artificial intelligence laboratories