US automobile major Ford takes the big leap forward for developing self-driving cars, partnering with firms in Silicon Valley and translating its research initiatives to an advanced engineering level.
With 29-year Ford veteran Randy Visintainer at the helm for developing self-driving cars, a global team has already been put in place by the company for the project.
Ford group global product development group vice president Raj Nair said: "During the next five years, we will move to migrate driver-assist technologies across our product lineup to help make our roads safer and continue to increase automated driving capability.
"At the same time, we are working to make sure those features and the whole way you shop for, buy and own a Ford vehicle provides an outstanding customer experience."
The move towards the advanced phase marks the firm's entry into the second out of three stages, which witnesses the development of sensing and computing technology for ensuring feasibility of production and continued testing.
Besides, the automaker has introduced pre-collision assistance with pedestrian detection technology, which can currently be spotted on Ford Mondeo in Europe. The company would ensure its availability in the US as part of its new vehicles next year, targeting to make all technologies accessible for its vehicles across the world by 2019.
Besides, the company has joined hands with Redwood City-based Carbon3D to exploit the latter's Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) technology, a 3D printing technology drawing from UV curable resins which could be applied at a speed 25 to 100 times faster.
The automaker is set to introduce MyFord Mobile app extension for smartwatches, including Android Wear, which is capable of taking stock of the driving range and battery charge for their vehicles.
