Sitting in front of a bank of TV screens showing busy London streets, he’s explaining to me how a network of roadside cameras is helping a self-driving car to navigate heavy traffic.

The cameras are used to help the car identify potential hazards in advance, before they can be picked up by its own sensors. This allows it to anticipate problems, and progress more smoothly through traffic.

The system has been on trial on the roads of Woolwich, in south-east London, as part of the ServCity project which aims to refine autonomous technologies for busy city streets.

The scheme, which has been operating for three years, is run by a consortium including Nissan, Hitachi Europe, the Transport Research Laboratory and the University of Nottingham, among others…

This project, however, has focused specifically on finding ways for the car to use roadside infrastructure, such as traffic cameras, to improve its awareness – and allow it to drive more smoothly.