In a philosophy shared by Alphabet’s Google, Ford does not intend to develop incremental autonomous systems that would occasionally require drivers to take the wheel, instead committing to a full self-driving auto. Ford says the model will only be used for a “ride-hailing or ride-sharing service”, a company similar to Uber or Lyft (or maybe even one of them).
Advertisement
President Mark Fields unveiled plans in Palo Alto, California to make new investments in autonomous tech firms and double investment in Ford’s research centre in the city.
To help speed up development of self-driving cars, Ford is investing in or collaborating with four startups on autonomous vehicle development. Because the auto will be able to drive itself, it won’t need them.
“We’re not in a race to be first”, Fields said at the company’s Palo Alto research and development lab, adding he was not concerned that rival General Motors had made a high-stakes play in ride services with its $500 million (R6.7 billion) investment in Lyft in January.
Ford claims that it has been the first automaker to have publicly tested its vehicles at Mcity, a simulated urban environment on University of Michigan’s campus. These will be tested on the roads of California, Arizona and MI.
Government regulations are likely to be one of the main obstacles for Ford to work with in order to make its autonomous plans a mass-market reality. Ford has been researching autonomous vehicles for more than a decade and now tests fully autonomous vehicles in Michigan, Arizona and California, and will triple its autonomous vehicle test fleet this year to have the largest of any automaker.
The investment will go towards lowering the production costs of the Velodyne’s LiDAR sensors.
Ford fully autonomous Fusion Hybrid research vehicle on streets of Dearborn, MI.
Civil Maps: Ford has invested in the organisation to further develop high-resolution 3D maps.
Advertisement
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. “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”.
