“That is what it takes to make autonomous vehicles a reality for millions of people around the world”, added Raj Nair, Executive Vice President, Global Product development, and Chief Technical Officer.
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This year, Ford will triple its autonomous vehicle test fleet to 30 self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans, with these vehicles active in California, Arizona and MI. Ford, he said, now had the tools to develop a fully driverless vehicle, but “there’s still a lot of engineering development” between now and 2021.
The development programme will see the fleet triple again next year.
To support this development, Fields announced that Ford is tripling its investment into semi-autonomous systems, including partnering with four specialist start-ups in the sector to work on advanced control algorithms, 3D mapping, cameras and light detecting and ranging (LiDAR) sensors.
While its driverless offering would potentially compete with that of Google, the motor company has teamed up with the Chocolate Factory to launch an initiative to lobby the U.S. government to develop “clear rules of the road” for autonomous vehicles and implement them on a federal level.
Ford.has [also] acquired.computer vision and machine learning company SAIPS for its expertise in artificial intelligence and computer vision.
Ford has also signed 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.
The data gathered creates high-resolution 3D digital images used for mapping, localisation, object identification and collision avoidance.
Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford also said it plans to double the staff at its Palo Alto research centre by the end of next year to almost 300 people.
While the company’s announcement will pit it against rival auto companies such as Volvo and BMW in the race to release a self-driving vehicle into the market, Fields said at Ford’s research and development laboratory in Palo Alto that the company is not looking to be the first to do so.
Ford’s announcement leaves many crucial strategy details still undecided, but vice-president of research Ken Washington said it was important to signal that Ford intends to win in this space, even with key elements still unknown. “Today, we are actively working with more than 40 startups, and have developed a strong collaboration with many incubators, allowing us to accelerate development of technologies and services”.
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Since the Palo Alto centre opened in 2015, it has become home to more than 130 researchers, engineers and scientists. Ford and Baidu’s investment in Velodyne also is aimed at helping the tech firm lower the costs of its sensors to between $300 and $500 a unit, affordable enough for mass adoption. It will buy two more buildings next to its current building in order to expand its campus, Fields said.
