Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing

X

Ford has put its Fusion Hybrid autonomous research vehicle through its paces at night, in complete darkness, navigating desert roads without headlights, as part of its LiDAR sensor development.Ford states that the testing at its Arizona proving ground marks the next step in its “journey to delivering fully autonomous vehicles to customers around the globe”.

“It’s an important development, in that it shows that even without cameras, which rely on light, Ford’s LiDAR – working with the car’s virtual driver software – is robust enough to steer flawlessly around winding roads,” Ford states.

“While it’s ideal to have all three modes of sensors – radar, cameras and LiDAR – the latter can function independently on roads without stoplights.”

Navigating in the dark, the Ford cars use high-resolution 3D maps, complete with information about the road, road markings, geography, topography and landmarks like signs, buildings and trees. LiDAR pulses are employed by the vehicle to pinpoint itself on the map in real time.

“Additional data from radar gets fused with that of LiDAR to complete the full sensing capability of the autonomous vehicle,” Ford states.

Carrying out the testing, Ford engineers sporting night-vision goggles monitored from inside and outside the vehicle, with night vision allowing monitoring of LiDAR in the form of a grid of infrared laser beams projected around the vehicle as it drove past.

“Thanks to LiDAR, the test cars aren’t reliant on the sun shining, nor cameras detecting painted white lines on the asphalt,” Jim McBride, Ford technical leader for autonomous vehicles, commented.

“In fact, LiDAR allows autonomous cars to drive just as well in the dark as they do in the light of day.”

Ford states that this year it will triple its autonomous vehicle test fleet, bringing the number to about 30 self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans for testing on roads in California, Arizona and Michigan.

Skullcandy 728x90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Westan 728x90px Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
MaxRanger4K Leaderboard 728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
728 x 90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Uniden Channelnews SoloX July 2024 728x90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
ELX DIG Crosscat Promo 728x90 Mar25 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
GOTHAM 728px x 90px Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
FA 979 HN MDF SG14 14gen 728x90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Arlo EOFY25 728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Hisense KV BannerAd 728 90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
HAIER Series 600 FLW HPD Pairs 728x90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
hitachi banner 728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Flick of a switch 728x90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
BlueAnt 4SQM PumpAirUltra 728x90px Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Marshall 728x90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Px7 S3 728x90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
ChannelNews AZ100 728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
JBL TourPro3 728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
241211 SAV Ruark CNewsJan Leader Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
BEL2535 BPB024 4SQ Banners 728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
728X90 1 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing
AU X8 Banner 728x90 Driving In The Pitch Black Dark: Ford Undertakes Autonomous Vehicle Testing


YOU MAY ALSO LIKE