If you pull up alongside a self-driving car today, you'll probably know it immediately — bulky external sensors make most of the current models logging test miles for Waymo, Chevy and others stick out on the streets like a sore thumb. There are a few less goofy-looking models on the road with autopilot features, like the Audi R7, but they're not so prevalent.
But if you run into one of the brand-new, next-gen driverless Ford Fusion Hybrids in the coming months, you might never notice it's autonomous. It's that... normal.
Chris Brewer, the chief program engineer of Ford's Autonomous Vehicle Development program, unveiled the latest iteration of Ford's self-driving tech in a Medium post yesterday, just ahead of the car company'smobility company's planned presentation next week at CES in Las Vegas.
There are two main elements to creating the new development vehicle, according to Brewer: the autonomous vehicle platform (aka the car itself) and the virtual driver system, which is the brains behind the beast. The new model is a major step up in both categories, at least for Ford.
Most noticeably, the vehicle platform has been streamlined and pared down from the tricked-out Fusion model that has served as the poster boy of Ford's self-driving program in 2013.
Gone are the four obtrusive sensors from the roof of the vehicle; they've been replaced by two hockey-puck-size LiDAR sensors positioned much more discretely on either side of the vehicle's windshield -- sort of like a second set of side-view mirrors. With these, the self-driving system can sense objects within a range of about two football fields in every direction.
Rooftop racks, just like you might find on top of many other car models, carry three cameras, while another is housed just beneath the windshield.
Credit: ford motor companyThe "brain" that steers the car is housed in the trunk, where the equivalent of "several high-end computers" generates 1 terabyte of data an hour. Information taken by the external sensors is fed into that system, where it's compared to 3D environment maps and other computer vision processing protocols that make the car drive.
The virtual driver system is meant to be fully autonomous, at least eventually -- Ford has committed to delivering a completely driverless vehicle by 2021. Unlike Uber's fleet of semi-autonomous (and controversial) Volvos or the aforementioned autopilot system of the Audi R7 and Tesla, the Fusion isn't meant to ever need a human at the controls. Ford sees a future where it doesn't even have a steering wheel.
In order to accomplish that goal, the efforts to perfect the system through road testing in Michigan, California and Arizona will be expanded. The self-driving fleet size will be tripled to around 90 cars in 2017 with the new vehicles.
Expect an even closer look at the new Fusion at CES next week. 2016 has been a huge year for self-driving car tech — but 2017 has the potential to be even bigger.
TopicsCESSelf-Driving Cars
(责任编辑：時尚)
Michael Phelps says goodbye to the pool with Olympic goldTwitter to investigate apparent racial bias in photo previewsAmazon quietly announces major expansion to neighborhood surveillance networksWhat your favorite 'Fall Guys' Season 1 level says about youU.S. pole vaulter skids to a halt for national anthemDonald Trump's tangled web of Russian influence
Donald Trump has had ties to Russia for decades, but they've thickened as his campaign for the White
...[详细]Hulu's 'Woke' is the bold, irreverent comedy you need: Review
Hulu's Woke, starring Lamorne Morris, starts with a simple introduction: "Inspired by one experience
...[详细]Colossal Western fires look ever more menacing, viewed from space
If intelligent life beyond Earth (should it exist) could view our planet right now, they might be as
...[详细]Review: The Whoop fitness tracker is great for people who love data
I've been in the market for a fitness tracker for a while now — it felt like a responsible cho
...[详细]Nate Parker is finally thinking about the woman who accused him of rape
Nate Parker is getting a crash course in male privilege after, in his own words, not thinking about
...[详细]Video call lens turns gestures into comic
With video calls now an unfortunate 2020 staple, unmuting your microphone to briefly agree with some
...[详细]M. Night Shyamalan reveals his next movie in a poster and set photo
The title of M. Night Shyamalan's next movie is Old, which is presumably a reference to what our col
...[详细]Amazon quietly announces major expansion to neighborhood surveillance networks
Blink and you've missed it. Amazon, the powerhouse behind the Ring security camera network, is comin
...[详细]Tourist survives for month in frozen New Zealand wilderness after partner dies
A tourist from the Czech Republic, whose partner fell to his death, survived a harrowing month in th
...[详细]Twitter to investigate apparent racial bias in photo previews
The first look a Twitter user gets at a tweet might be an unintentionally racially biased one.Twitte
...[详细]Ivanka Trump's unpaid interns share cringeworthy financial advice
The livestreaming boom isn't slowing down anytime soon
