The Ordnance Survey , the UK government agency responsible for land surveys, has announced that it is mapping the road network of a 32-km area in the county of Oxfordshire in a digital simulation. Under the project name of OmniCAV, the safety of networked driverless vehicles (Connected and Autonomous Vehicles or CAVs) is to be tested in this way. The Ordnance Survey, OS for short, is to include both the 3D landscape data and information about the characteristics of the individual streets.

A total of eleven partners are involved in the project, which is costing the British government around £3.9 million (€4.3 million). OmniCAV is just one part of a larger package of measures with which the UK is intending to support the development of autonomous vehicles. A total of £12.1 million (€13.5 million) of funding is being provided.

The roads that are being mapped by OmniCAV should match the originals down to details such as markings, bridges and intersections. Typical dangerous situations are also being integrated, such as children running to an ice cream van or plastic bags being blown across the street. Artificial intelligence is used to determine how driverless cars react in those situations.