Ford has revealed its latest progress towards bringing self-driving cars to showrooms, which takes the form of a Fusion Hybrid outfitted with the Blue Oval’s most advanced autonomous technology.
Co-developed with the University of Michigan and State farm, the automated sedan is equipped with a quartet of LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) infrared sensors that scan the road 2.5 million times each second. Similar to how bats and dolphins use sound waves to recognize their surroundings, the LiDAR setup bounces light off of everything within a 200 ft. radius in order to create a real-time, three-dimension map of the nearby area.
The sensors are capable of recognizing stationary and moving objects such as vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists, and are sufficiently sensitive to tell the difference between a paper bag and a small animal from nearly a football field away, Ford says.
“The Ford Fusion Hybrid automated vehicle represents a vital step toward our vision for the future of mobility,” Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said in a statement.
“We see a future of connected cars that communicate with each other and the world around them to make driving safer, ease traffic congestion and sustain the environment. By doing this, Ford is set to have an even greater impact in our next 100 years than we did in our first 100.”
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