Government backs UK CAM pioneers

  • Six UK SMEs aiming to help the UK become a world-leader in the development and deployment of Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) solutions have secured funding to bring new innovations to market
  • Each member of the fifth CAM Scale-Up UK cohort willreceive up to £100,000 in grant funding from UK Government

[LONDON, 5th September, 2024] – Six businesses aiming to help the UK become a world-leader in the development and deployment of Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) solutions have secured up to £100,000 in grant funding from the 2024 CAM Scale-Up UK programme, delivered by Zenzic. The continued influence of AI is demonstrated among the latest innovations to receive this year’s funding. The latest cohort of SMEs in the programme enable exciting transport innovations including live disability wheelchair access on public buses, and driver fatigue and safety monitoring. A total of 22 SMEs have been supported by the CAM Scale-Up UK programme since 2020. Technology developed through the programme has included the world’s first pothole-fixing robot, self-driving passenger and freight vehicles, and advanced radar and safety software solutions enabling vehicles to navigate extreme weather. Supported by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and in partnership with Plug and Play, the programme enables start-ups and SMEs to test their products and services at the world-leading CAM Testbed UK testing facilities, which significantly accelerate their time to market.  testing facilities, which significantly accelerate their time to market.

“CAM Scale-Up UK is not just about providing funding to businesses and leaving them to fend for themselves, it’s very much a wrap-around support programme which provides those successful with everything they need to truly realise their potential. “Through CAM Testbed UK, they can test their solutions in as close to real-life scenarios as possible, and accelerate their route to market. All the while picking the brains of some of the brightest minds in industry, it’s a real collaborative way of working.” – Mark Cracknell, Programme Director, Zenzic

The SMEs supported in this year’s cohort are:

  • Blueskeye AI –building clinical grade technology (software) to scan people’s faces for emotional, social, and medically relevant expressed behaviour. Its work with the programme will see it use the CAM Testbed to gather the data sets required to improve their fatigue detection functionality.
  • Deontic UK – Deontic UK is dedicated to enhancing autonomous vehicle safety by developing a generative AI solution. Their large language models (LLMs) are designed to assist autonomous vehicle vendors, manufacturers, and suppliers in seamlessly integrating regulatory frameworks into the technology behind software-defined vehicles and increasingly complex Operational Design Domains (ODDs).
  • Maaind – aiming to mitigate mood-based driving accidents. Maaind uses tools including speech recognition, computer vision and readings from smart devices, all during a journey, to detect signs of stress in drivers, and to then offer an intervention to help the journey progress safely.
  • Moonbility – providing real time information about wheelchair bays on buses. By integrating with existing CCTV cameras, the company will update consumers about wheelchair availability through passenger-facing applications.
  • Opteran – neuromorphic software for machines, Opteran Mind provides robust, low-cost autonomy in the most challenging and dynamic environments.
  • SAIF Systems – We make autonomous systems safe for deployment everywhere around us in our daily lives. We do this by providing real-time, edge-based safety monitoring software, inspired by leading research into safety filtering techniques for non-deterministic control systems. Our software considers safety requirements for a system and the rules and regulations of the operating domain, monitors its state, and takes verifiably safe corrective actions if constraint violations are predicted. Our product does all of this at runtime, assured to the highest standards of operational safety, enabling our partners to harness the full potential of advanced true autonomy.

The grants will enable each of the SMEs to further research and develop their pioneering solutions, as well as test them in real-world scenarios courtesy of the world-leading CAM Testbed UK. A network of eight UK test sites, CAM Testbed UK is supported by Zenzic to provide innovative businesses with a unique ability to cross-share data and encourage collaboration to drive the sector forward.

Mark added: “CAM Scale-Up UK is not just about providing funding to businesses and leaving them to fend for themselves, it’s very much a wrap-around support programme which provides those successful with everything they need to truly realise their potential. “Through CAM Testbed UK, they can trial their solutions in as close to real-life scenarios as possible, while also picking the brains of some of the brightest minds in industry, it’s a real collaborative way of working.”

For more information on the CAM Scale-Up UK programme, visit: https://zenzic.io/innovation/cam-scale-up/

For any enquiries, please contact Tim Pockney: tim.pockney@zenzic.io.

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About the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV):

CCAV is a joint policy unit of the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). CCAV leads the way in shaping and delivering the UK government’s policies on connected and autonomous vehicles, ensuring that the UK remains at the cutting edge of this transformative technology.

About Zenzic:

Zenzic was established by government and industry to champion the UK Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) ecosystem. As a collaborative organisation, Zenzic strives to place the UK at the forefront of the global CAM revolution by promoting innovation and enabling UK organisations to make significant contributions to the future of mobility

About CAM Testbed UK:

Founded in 2015, through joint £200 million investment between Government and Industry, CAM Testbed UK is a grouping of independent organisations with a common aim of promoting the UK as a global testing centre for the development, validation and deployment of connected and automated mobility

About Plug and Play:

Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we’re present in 60+ locations across 25+ industries. We offer corporate innovation programs, helping our partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also run startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC where we’ve invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit Plug and Play Tech Center.