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Autonomous Mustang drunkenly meanders up Goodwood hillclimb

It completes the course ... eventually

The maiden voyage of the Siemens-developed self-driving Ford Mustang has been completed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It could have gone better. Yes, it did complete the course but only because of the safety driver behind the wheel.

With Goodwood festival founder Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond, sitting in the back seat of the vinyl-wrapped 1965 Mustang, the prototype set off from the starting line. However, despite the route being 3D-scanned and pre-programmed, the Mustang seemed a bit wobbly going up the route, keeping its speed low and displaying an unsettling tendency to veer towards the haybales, even on the straight sections. That required the security driver to frequently grab the wheel and keep the Mustang on course. Frankly, it looks like the car got into a barrel of gin before setting off.

But still, snark briefly aside, the Mustang completed the course in the end. Technology has to start somewhere, right? And the Mustang, co-developed with Cranfield University, has the rest of the festival to try and get it right. Or, at least, get it a bit better.

The Mustang's run is around the 5 minute mark in the video below:

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