Ford introducing next-gen Fusion Hybrid autonomous development vehicle at CES and NAIAS in January
28 December 2016
Ford Motor Company is introducing its next-generation Fusion Hybrid autonomous development vehicle; the car will first appear at CES 2017 and the North American International Auto Show in January. The new vehicle uses the current Ford autonomous vehicle platform, but ups the processing power with new computer hardware.
Electrical controls are closer to production-ready, and adjustments to the sensor technology, including placement, allow the car to better see what’s around it. New LiDAR sensors have a sleeker design and more targeted field of vision, which enables the car to now use just two sensors rather than four, while still getting just as much data.
The new vehicle also evolves the two main elements to creating an autonomous vehicle—the autonomous vehicle platform, which is an upgraded version of the car itself, and the virtual driver system.
The next-gen Fusion Hybrid autonomous development vehicle follows the company’s current generation, which hit the streets three years ago. Earlier this year, Ford announced ] its intent to have a high-volume, fully autonomous SAE level 4-capable vehicle in commercial operation in 2021 in a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service. (Earlier post.)
To support that, Ford announced four key investments and collaborations that are expanding its strong research in advanced algorithms, 3D mapping, LiDAR, and radar and camera sensors:
Velodyne: Ford has invested in Velodyne, the Silicon Valley-based leader in light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors. The aim is to quickly mass-produce a more affordable automotive LiDAR sensor. Ford has a longstanding relationship with Velodyne, and was among the first to use LiDAR for both high-resolution mapping and autonomous driving beginning more than 10 years ago.
SAIPS: Ford acquired the Israel-based computer vision and machine learning company to further strengthen its expertise in artificial intelligence and enhance computer vision. SAIPS has developed algorithmic solutions in image and video processing, deep learning, signal processing and classification. This expertise will help Ford autonomous vehicles learn and adapt to the surroundings of their environment.
Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC: Ford has an exclusive licensing agreement with Nirenberg Neuroscience, a machine vision company founded by neuroscientist Dr. Sheila Nirenberg, who cracked the neural code the eye uses to transmit visual information to the brain. This has led to a powerful machine vision platform for performing navigation, object recognition, facial recognition and other functions, with many potential applications. For example, it is already being applied by Dr. Nirenberg to develop a device for restoring sight to patients with degenerative diseases of the retina. Ford’s partnership with Nirenberg Neuroscience will help bring humanlike intelligence to the machine learning modules of its autonomous vehicle virtual driver system.
Civil Maps: Ford has invested in Berkeley, California-based Civil Maps to further develop high-resolution 3D mapping capabilities. Civil Maps has pioneered an innovative 3D mapping technique that is scalable and more efficient than existing processes. This provides Ford another way to develop high-resolution 3D maps of autonomous vehicle environments Silicon Valley expansion.
Why are they still using visible sensors? They will never make it into a production vehicle. Just do like Tesla and use only the hardware that can be out of sight and mass produced. And install that on all vehicles sold for a high end model and run the software in shadow mode to get the needed data. Just copy Tesla and you will succeed.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 28 December 2016 at 04:23 AM
@Change: I think it's the old Detroit "Not Invented Here" syndrome at work, combined with resentment of the "upstart" Tesla, that leads to what you see here.
Posted by: Brent Jatko | 28 December 2016 at 09:53 AM
When you are working on processor power and software you don't need to be messing with sleeker LIDAR at the same time. First things first and one thing at a time.
Posted by: SJC | 28 December 2016 at 11:24 AM
Brent you are right. They may be too proud to just copy Tesla’s approach although it seems the best way to make rapid progress.
Problem with Tesla is they only did 80k cars in 2016 and therefore they are not yet a competitive risk to the much larger old car makers. The old car makers will pay more attention when Tesla reaches a million cars per year hopefully by 2020/2021.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 29 December 2016 at 12:00 AM