Woodpecker was born as side project of Pilot Automotive Labs by rebuilding existing cars to autonomous and semi – autonomous vehicles.

The costs of autonomous test vehicles are high. Retrofitting existing vehicles with drive by wire and providing end-to-end functional safety are difficult and expensive.

Building inexpensive, flexible and modular vehicle platform from scratch was a solution. So the Woodpecker “skateboard” frame concept was born. All electric, built from open source modules and fully configurable. Electrical brakes, steering and acceleration are native controls. No physical steering wheel or pedals – just joystick control.

To foster tinkering, in-home garage development of autonomous technologies for enthusiasts and research organizations concept of modular, inexpensive and open sourced platform were created.

Wooden frame could be made and assembled by everyone using simple woodworking tools and downloadable free drawings. For those looking for professional made kit we are working to pre-produced parts, which might be delivered through local IKEA or The Home Depot

Suspension and electrical components, as well as drive by wire controllers (like Pixdrive from PILOT) will be available soon.
Autonomous drive and remote driving controllers (like Pixtrail) will be available from Pilot Automotive Labs.