Ford Motor Company has revealed its Fusion Hybrid automated research vehicle that is aimed to make progress on future automated driving.
On Thusday, December 12, Ford announced the automated Fusion Hybrid research vehicle, developed in collaboration with the University of Michigan and State Farm. The car maker states that the research vehicle is a result of Ford's research on automated driving for over 10 years.
The company wants the research vehicle to test current as well as future sensing systems and driver-assist technologies. Ford's key objective is to advance development of new technologies with its supplier partners so that these features can be used to the automaker's next-generation vehicles.
Bill Ford, the company's executive chairman says that the latest research vehicle is a vital step towards the company's vision for the "future of mobility." Ford says that the future of driving is connected cars that can communicate with each other to make driving safer, ease traffic congestion and also sustain the environment.
Some select Ford vehicles available today already have high technology that enables them to park on their own, communicate with the driver with voice commands, identify hazardous driving conditions and support emergency braking. With the help of some of the current technologies and upcoming technologies, Ford expects that occupants of a vehicle can arrive at their required destination with a lot of ease.
"In the future, automated driving may well help us improve driver safety and manage issues such as traffic congestion and global gridlock, yet there are still many questions that need to be answered and explored to make it a long-term reality," said Raj Nair, group vice president, Ford global product development. "With the automated Ford Fusion Hybrid research project, our goal is to test the limits of full automation and determine the appropriate levels for near- and mid-term deployment."
The test vehicle is built on driver-in-control studies conducted in Ford's VIRTTEX driving simulator. Using VIRTTEX, Ford researchers understand how to combine the capabilities of human and automated drivers to create a seamless and integrated driving experience.
The research vehicle looks similar to the 2014 Fusion; however, the roof of the car is equipped with four whirling cylinders, which emits constant beams of imperceptible laser light in all directions.
The system on the roof is called LiDAR, which the company is using in collaboration with 360-degree cameras to help the car see and create a visual and topographical representation of its surroundings.
The Fusion Hybrid research vehicle is not a driverless car but it is used to test advanced driving assistance technologies, which can help reduce the number of road accidents.
Shares of Ford were up 2.20 percent at $16.75 on the NYSE on Friday during early morning trading session.
