Autonomous Vehicles

Smart vehicles for a smart world

For the first time in our planet’s history, half of the world’s population live in cities. Self-driving vehicles have the potential to deliver new levels of accessibility, affordability and convenience, particularly in urban environments. Much of the technology already exists, but before it can be used to improve our lives, we need to build consumer trust in its safety and reliability.

No driver required

Self-driving vehicles would dramatically transform the way we move people and goods. This is why we are working hand in hand with cities to build tailored Autonomous Vehicle solutions that help their local economies thrive. Ford has partnered with Argo AI, an artificial intelligence and robotics company, led by some of the industry’s most experienced self-driving vehicle experts. Argo AI are applying the latest advancements in computer vision and machine learning to help build effective self-driving vehicles. Their ability to build a scalable software architecture with production quality code from the start, plus Ford’s expertise with vehicle integration and manufacturing, aims to create high-quality self-driving vehicles.

Advanced Technology

A self-driving vehicle must be designed and developed as an integrated system that works in unison, otherwise we are not able to achieve maximum capability, reliability and performance. The perception system is made up of; sensors, cameras, radar and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology – to take in the traffic scene all around the vehicle. The motion panning system is a sophisticated computing system that acts as the brain by combining the sensor information into a comprehensive understanding of the traffic situation. Then, the controls system is designed to direct the engine, braking and steering systems to guide the vehicle accordingly.

Technology partnerships

In 2019, we expanded our global alliance with Volkswagen to introduce self-driving vehicle systems across the United States and Europe, in collaboration with our technology partner Argo AI.

The acquisition of Quantum Signal in July 2019 further supports software development and hardware prototyping as we strive to develop self-driving transportation services.

Earning Trust

As we develop our self-driving vehicles, we are focused on three ideals that we believe are crucial to earning trust; safety, reliability and valuable experiences. Safety is a top priority in developing the processes we use for designing, testing and manufacturing our vehicles. We believe that the safety processes we have developed and proven throughout Ford’s history are key to the trust we have earned. We are applying those time-tested processes to the development of self-driving vehicles. We design for reliability through durability testing, using our extensive experience in building dependable vehicles that operate day after day, in hot or cold weather and under all different road conditions. Our end goal, as everything we are developing comes together, is to create an experience that people enjoy and find valuable.

Expanding our reach

Working closely with customers, industry and government officials, as well as our technology partner Argo AI, we’ve tested the technology in vehicles on the streets of Miami; Washington, Detroit, Palo Alto, Pittsburgh and Austin. Each new location represents a unique opportunity to expose our technology to different road infrastructure design, driving behaviors and even traffic light placement.

Self-driving technology has tremendous potential to change people’s lives and the communities in which they will operate. As we look to build a scalable self-driving vehicle business, we will continue to follow our customers’ lead. We’re thinking holistically and building every part of our service to be scalable at launch, giving us the ability to expand our service quickly — and, most importantly, deliver customer experiences that people want and value.

Argo AI