{"id":20842,"date":"2015-11-18T10:04:18","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T02:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=20842"},"modified":"2015-11-18T10:07:27","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T02:07:27","slug":"ford-tests-autonomous-vehicles-in-simulated-real-world-urban-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2015\/11\/18\/ford-tests-autonomous-vehicles-in-simulated-real-world-urban-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford tests autonomous vehicles in simulated real-world urban environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ford is the first automaker to test autonomous vehicles at Mcity \u2013 the full-scale simulated real-world urban environment at the University of Michigan. The 32-acre facility is part of the university\u2019s Mobility Transformation Center.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ford<\/a>

Ford has been testing autonomous vehicles for more than 10 years and is now expanding testing on the diversity of roads and realistic neighborhoods of Mcity near the North Campus Research Complex to accelerate research of advanced sensing technologies.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cTesting Ford\u2019s autonomous vehicle fleet at Mcity provides another challenging, yet safe, urban environment to repeatedly check and hone these new technologies,\u201d said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development. \u201cThis is an important step in making millions of people\u2019s lives better and improving their mobility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford has been testing autonomous vehicles for more than 10 years and is now expanding testing on the diversity of roads and realistic neighborhoods of Mcity near the North Campus Research Complex to accelerate research of advanced sensing technologies.<\/p>\n

Ford Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle merges today\u2019s driver-assist technologies, such as front-facing cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors, and adds four LiDAR sensors to generate a real-time 3D map of the vehicle\u2019s surrounding environment \u2013 essential for dynamic performance.<\/p>\n

Real-world testing in a whole new way<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mcity opened in July. The full-scale urban environment provides real-world road scenarios \u2013 such as running a red light \u2013 that can\u2019t be replicated on public roads. Click here<\/a> to see the Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle testing at Mcity.<\/p>\n

There are street lights, crosswalks, lane delineators, curb cuts, bike lanes, trees, hydrants, sidewalks, signs, traffic control devices \u2013 even construction barriers. Here, Ford Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle is tested over a range of surfaces \u2013 concrete, asphalt, simulated brick and dirt \u2013 and maneuvers two-, three- and four-lane roads, as well as ramps, roundabouts and tunnels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal of Mcity is that we get a scaling factor. Every mile driven there can represent 10, 100 or 1,000 miles of on-road driving in terms of our ability to pack in the occurrences of difficult events,\u201d said Ryan Eustice, University of Michigan associate professor and principal investigator in Ford\u2019s research collaboration with the university.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ford<\/a>

HANDS OFF THE WHEEL!<\/strong> Ford offers a full portfolio of semi-autonomous technology driver assist technologies across its vehicle lineup. Vehicles including the Ford Focus, Edge and Explorer use software and sensors to steer into parallel or perpendicular parking spaces, adjust speed based on traffic flow or apply the brakes in an emergency.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ford\u2019s track record of technology leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Asia Pacific, Ford offers a full portfolio of semi-autonomous technology driver assist technologies across its vehicle lineup. Vehicles including the Ford Focus, Edge and Explorer use software and sensors to steer into parallel or perpendicular parking spaces, adjust speed based on traffic flow or apply the brakes in an emergency.<\/p>\n

Ford revealed its Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle with University of Michigan and State Farm Insurance in 2013 in an effort to advance sensing systems so these technologies could be integrated into Ford\u2019s next-generation vehicles. Earlier this year, Ford announced it moved its research efforts in autonomous vehicle technology to the next step in development, to the advanced engineering phase. The team is working to make sensing and computing technologies feasible for production while continuing to test and refine algorithms.<\/p>\n

Along with testing at Mcity and on public roads, Ford\u2019s autonomous fleet has been put through its paces at the company\u2019s vehicle development facilities in Dearborn and Romeo, Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased to welcome Ford as the first automaker to use Mcity to test autonomous vehicles,\u201d said Peter Sweatman, director, Mobility Transformation Center. \u201cMcity offers a unique, real-world test environment that will help Ford accelerate development of its autonomous technology while building on its existing research collaboration with University of Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>

At Mcity, There are street lights, crosswalks, lane delineators, curb cuts, bike lanes, trees, hydrants, sidewalks, signs, traffic control devices \u2013 even construction barriers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Ford Smart Mobility <\/strong><\/p>\n

Autonomous vehicles are one element of Ford Smart Mobility, Ford\u2019s plan to deliver the next level in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and big data.<\/p>\n

As the home of numerous university research projects, challenges and experiments, the Asia Pacific region is a key part of the Ford Smart Mobility plan. Since the launch of Ford Smart Mobility in January 2015, initiatives have been rolled out in Asia Pacific, including the ongoing MyEnergiLifestyle pilot in Beijing and Shanghai in China, and Share Car (peer-to-peer car sharing project) in Bangalore, India.<\/p>\n

Most recently, the company announced two new university research initiatives in Chongqing and Beijing, China, and commenced Ford\u2019s successful Innovate App Challenge Series 2.0, which included two challenges in Australia and Taiwan.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ford is the first automaker to test autonomous vehicles at Mcity \u2013 the full-scale simulated real-world urban environment at the University of Michigan. The 32-acre facility is part of the university\u2019s Mobility Transformation Center. \u201cTesting Ford\u2019s autonomous vehicle fleet at Mcity provides another challenging, yet safe, urban environment to repeatedly check and hone these new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,637,22],"tags":[3779,1162,629,628],"class_list":["post-20842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-motoring-2","category-spotlight","tag-autonomous-driving","tag-connected-car","tag-ford","tag-motoring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}