Tata Tiago is now part of a million pound autonomous driving programme

The humble Tata Tiago hatchback has now joined the ranks of Jaguar Land Rover (Tata owns JLR) along with Ford as a part of a 20 million pound government initiative called Autodrive.The initiative funded by the UK government has been developed in the hopes that it will be trialed on public roads in the UK by 2018. Autodrive basically communicates with the available infrastructure like traffic lights to tell the vehicle and inform its driver about the optimum speed at which it should travel in order to reduce the number of red lights it comes across on a journey.The system called the Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory has been designed to reduce waiting times at traffic signals which will in turn minimize emissions caused by the engine. What this will also improve is fuel efficiency.For now, JLR's technologies include semi-autonomous systems which allow for hands-free and pedal-free driving. Since the technologies work together, the system is also capable of warning the driver if the vehicle ahead has braked hard. This is effective for a distance of up to 500 meters.The idea is not to take the joy of driving away from the driver, but to take care of the tough bits, warn the driver and avoid accidental collisions.