Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI) has won the Proving Ground of the Year award at the Automotive Testing Technology International Awards 2022. The facility is said to be one of Europe’s largest smart city research center and provides an open testbed of connected roads and smart junctions for the co-development of vehicle systems, data handling, and new mobility services.
FMCI’s data-agnostic infrastructure enables users to either bring their own vehicles or use the facility’s, offering a comprehensive range of evaluation opportunities. The facility’s real roads, dedicated test networks, and unpredictable Irish weather are crucial to advancing connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology, making it an appealing option for testing and development in the industry.
"We are delighted to have won the award. It's a validation of FMCI's concept to create an open testbed that focuses on Ireland's strengths, namely software development, data processing, and communications infrastructure," said CEO Russell Vickers. "The team's belief that vehicles are essentially nodes on a large network enables customers and partners to leverage the infrastructure at Future Mobility Campus Ireland to create and validate great products."
FMCI is located beside Shannon Airport and leverages the Shannon Free Zone as its smart city infrastructure, providing a comprehensive data-processing back-end to enable customers to capture and process their data on-premises on their private networks. The facility recently opened a private testing area for automated low-speed manoeuvring for automated vehicles and plans to extend its capabilities to cover 450km of Ireland’s motorway network in partnership with Transport Infrastructure Ireland for V2X testing.
Richard Penn, director of Penn Engineered Solutions and a 2022 juror for the Automotive Testing Technology International Awards, commented, "Future Mobility Campus Ireland was chosen for its scale, configuration, and data transfer/storage capabilities and recognizing some of the real-world challenges for connected and autonomous vehicles afforded by north European weather." [Link]
The other nominees for the Proving Ground of the Year award included Digitrans, Fraunhofer IIS, and UTAC, all of which offer impressive capabilities for the testing and development of autonomous and connected vehicles.
Overall, FMCI’s win at the Automotive Testing Technology International Awards 2022 is a significant achievement and a testament to its contributions to the development of connected and autonomous vehicle technology. The facility’s open testbed, comprehensive infrastructure, and commitment to advancing the automotive industry make it an appealing option for customers, collaborators and founding partners alike.
FMCI's COO Wassim Derguech commented on the importance of these partnerships, saying, "We are grateful for the support of our founding partners and collaborators, whose contributions have been critical to the success of Future Mobility Campus Ireland. Our partnerships enable us to provide customers with access to a range of expertise and resources needed to support their testing and development needs."
FMCI’s founding partners and collaborators have played a vital role in establishing and maintaining the infrastructure needed to support the testing and development of connected and autonomous vehicle technology. The facility’s partnerships with leading companies in the automotive industry and academic institutions ensure that FMCI stays up to date with the latest trends and developments in the industry and provides customers with access to the expertise and resources needed to create and validate great and innovative products.