PEKIN, Ill. – Starting next year, Ford plans on testing autonomous vehicles in California. Ford is
officially enrolled in the California Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program, and
their first vehicle to take the road will be a fully autonomous Ford Fusion
Hybrid.
Ford plans on testing autonomous vehicles in California to
advance its 10-year autonomous vehicles development program. It’s also a key
component of Ford Smart Mobility, a plan to take the company to the next level
in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience, and data
and analytics.
Improving on this plan is the Ford Research and Innovation
Center Palo Alto. Ford has expanded its Silicon Valley facility from a 15-person
team to a 100-plus-person team. The team is made up of the best scientists and
engineers from around the world.
The Ford Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto just added
on a new research lab in January. To develop the autonomous vehicles, many different tests have been performed in the
last year, like:
- Autonomous vehicle virtual test drive: a study that allows virtual interaction between autonomous cars and pedestrians, which replicates real-world situations. This is to get a better understanding of responses and develop responses of unexpected things that can occur on the road.
- Sensor fusion: sensors on autonomous vehicles detect and track objects in the vehicle’s view, combining information together to provide a 360-degree view of the vehicle’s surroundings.
- Camera-based pedestrian detection: camera sensors that are used as the eyes of the vehicle, allowing the car to see and sense pedestrians.
Ford has made relationships with top universities including
University of California-Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, Santa Clara, and
San Jose State. The company is also expanding its research collaboration with
Stanford next year. They have 13 new projects planned for 2016 covering all
five areas of Ford Smart mobility, which is more than double the collaborations
this year.
While autonomous vehicles are not available to us yet,
Velde still has plenty of great Ford cars and trucks you can take home. If
you’re in the market for a new vehicle, come on over to your Peoria area Ford
dealership today and take one for a test drive. At Velde Ford, we're committed to providing our customers with an
unbeatable level of service and a great car buying experience. Feel free to
visit Velde Ford located at 2200 North 8th Street, Pekin, IL 61554.
Visit our
website: VeldeFordPekin.com
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