Ford's Autonomous Fusion can see in the Dark Without Headlights

Ford Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle – No Headlight On

There are a lot of talks going on regarding the present status of self-driving cars. Ford is aware that its systems are not perfect yet; however its self-driving Fusion research vehicle seems to be getting better and is capable of navigating in the dark. Ford Fusion Hybrid autonomous research vehicle with no headlights on, had recently navigated along lonely desert roads to perform task which would be dangerous for a human driver. Driving in pitch black at Ford Arizona Proving Grounds symbolises the next step on the journey of the company in delivering fully autonomous vehicles to consumers all over the world.

Its car have the potential of tackling the dark of night owing to two technologies namely 3D mapping and LiDar which tends to stand for Light Detection And Ranging, uses lasers for measuring the distance to objects. The 3D maps tend to provide extra information regarding the road, comprising of markings as well as the geography. The LiDar also helps the car to recognize where on the map it is at that point of time. Utilising infrared improving goggles, the engineers of Ford were able to observe the car work its magic as it casts infrared laser beams around the vehicle.

Adequately Strong to Steer Impeccably

Presently, the night-time, lights-off testing has been limited to its Arizona proving grounds, since it is quite illegal in operating vehicle on public roads at night minus the traditional illumination. Though autonomous night vision could be helpful for vehicles to continue to move towards a destination if infrastructure or the own lighting of the vehicle tends to goes dark, dashing forward in pitch black could be a bit scary to an average driver or passenger.

Moreover, it would also put a dent in the light pollution which covers most of the sky in areas with great population density.It is an important progress which shows that even without cameras that depends on light; Ford LiDar tends to work with the virtual driver software of the car and is adequately strong to steer impeccably around winding roads. Though it is idyllic to have all the three modes of sensors namely radar, cameras and LiDar, the last can operate independently on roads without stoplights.

No Driver to Intervene/Control Vehicle

Jim McBride, technical leader for autonomous cars says that due to LiDar, the test cars are not dependent on the sun shining, or cameras detecting painted white lines on the tarmac. In fact LiDar enables autonomous cars to drive well in the dark as they do in the light of day’. After over a decade of Ford autonomous vehicle research, the company has been dedicated to achieving fully autonomous driving possibility that as defined by SAE International Level 4 does not need the driver to intervene and control the vehicle.

Ford, this year will be increasing its autonomous vehicle test fleet bringing the number to around 30 self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans for the purpose of testing on roads in California, Arizona and Michigan. These elements seems to be the main elements of Fort Smart Mobility, the plan in taking Ford to the next level with regards to connectivity, mobility, customer experience, autonomous vehicles, together with data and analytics.