The driverless vehicles will be use in a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service.
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Ford Motor Company says the auto will initially be used for commercial mobility services, like taxi companies, and will be available in high volumes, and that sales to consumers will come later. “Autonomous vehicles could drastically reduce [that] number of fatalities”.
Fields trumpeted how Ford brought cars to the masses and how autonomous vehicles can bring better safety to roads and mobility to those now excluded, such as the elderly, disabled and those too young to drive. This announcement was made at an event in Silicon Valley that was broadcast online. But he said semi-autonomous systems that can operate the vehicle but then cede control back to the driver when an obstacle is encountered are actually unsafe in Ford’s view.
The auto will operate “without a steering wheel, gas or brake pedal, for use in commercial mobility”.
Five years from now, Ford will be making history for offering the world’s first series production of fully autonomous vehicles. Engineers, technologists, designers, and other workers will design more efficient sensors, AI frameworks, and systems so that the next generation of cars will be affordable to mass produce.
Nair says Ford will continue developing systems that assist the driver, like automatic emergency braking or lane departure warning.
To achieve its ambitious goal, the company has invested $75m (£57.5m) in Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensor technology Lidar. The company is prominent in helping vehicles learn and adapt to their surroundings.
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Ford has also formed a partnership with New York-based Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, a machine vision company that has developed devices for restoring sight to patients with degenerative eye diseases. Even still, it might be prudent to listen to the comments made by Ford CEO Mark Fields earlier this week, which can be heard in the video above. In order to have the largest fleet of autonomous-driving vehicles in the automotive industry, Ford will triple that total this year, and aims to triple it again next year.
