Ford has disclosed that it is developing a driver-less car which can be driven under snowy conditions.
The company uses LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to create 3D maps of the roads that the AV (Autonomous Vehicles) will operate.
These detailed 3D maps made from scanning all the structures in the vicinity and will be used as benchmark to begin the testing.
With this 3D map, the AV will locate itself accurately when the area is fully covered with snow.
While mapping the surrounding environment, the vehicle collects and processes large number of data about the road and surrounding landmarks including signs, buildings, trees and other features.
Each hour, the data collected and processed by Ford's sensors amounts to at least 600GB per hour.
When compared with average American data consumption of 21 gigabytes of data per year, it amounts to more than 10 times the data.
The third piece of technology is about the sensors that are used in Ford's AVs.
Ford says that its sensors are so sensitive that they can even detect falling snowflakes and raindrops,which can give wrong signals.
Ford is working with University of Michigan researchers to develop an algorithm which will help the car in recognizing snow and rain, so that vehicles would not see snowflakes as obstacles, rather navigate through it.
The company claims that its GPS system can locate itself within a centimeter distance compared to the current GPS system which can be accurate to just more than 10 yards.
The cars can scan their environment for landmarks, and then compare that information to the 3D digital maps stored in their databanks to precisely locate themselves.
Other technology uses an array of sensors including radars and cameras, apart from LiDAR.
This will help the autonomous vehicle to scan its surroundings and plan its drive by avoiding obstacles.
