As the auto industry inches closer to autonomous cars, Ford has teamed up with researchers at two acclaimed universities to work toward building self-driving vehicles, Digital First Media reported.
The Detroit, Mich.-based carmaker will be collaborating with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University for Ford's "Blueprint for Mobility," the company's program for long-term goals.
"To deliver on our vision for the future of mobility, we need to work with many new partners across the public and private sectors, and we need to start today," said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president at Ford, as quoted by Digital First Media.
The researchers will look at both long- and short-term goals since autonomous capabilities will likely be gradually introduced into the car industry.
"Our goal is to provide the vehicle with common sense," said Greg Stevens, global manager for driver assistance and active safety at Ford.
The automaker is looking to launch a car that can use sensors to take in its environment and advanced algorithms to predict where other vehicles and pedestrians will be.
Ford last month unveiled a research car based on the Ford Fusion Hybrid. The vehicle drives on its own with the aid of four detectors and a camera, The Verge reported.
The outfitted Fusion Hybrid can drive on its own with the aid of four whirling, cylindrical LiDAR detectors on its roof and a 360-degree camera.
Company officials plan to phase the technology into production piece-by-piece, hoping to apply most of the research after 2025.
Stevens said as quoted by Digital First Media, "Drivers are good at using the cues around them to predict what will happen next, and they know that what you can't see is often as important as what you can see. Our goal in working with MIT and Stanford is to bring a similar type of intuition to the vehicle."
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