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Ford Self-Driving R&D Car Tells Small Animal From Paper Bag At 200 Ft.

Posted by samzenpus on from the where-you-going? dept.

cartechboy writes "Autonomous driving is every car manufacturer's immediate R&D project. In car-building terms, even if a new technology isn't due for 10 years — since that's just two full vehicle generations away-- it has to be developed now. So now it is for autonomous car research and testing, and this week Ford revealed a brand new Fusion Hybrid research vehicle built for autonomous R&D with some interesting tech capabilities. Technologies inside the new Fusion Hybrid research vehicle include LIDAR (a light-based range detection), which scans at 2.5 million times per second to create a 3D map of the surrounding environment at a radius of 200 feet. Ford says the research vehicle's sensors are sensitive enough to detect the difference between a small animal and a paper bag even at maximum range. More road-ready differentiations include observation and understanding of pedestrians, cyclists, and plain old stationary objects. Ford is working on this project in cooperation with the University of Michigan."

4 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Yes but by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can it tell if the small animal is *inside* the paperbag? I'm thinking of cats specifically. Cats and paperbags... cat lovers know what I'm talking about.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  2. Re:I'm waiting for autonomous taxis being everywhe by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Funny

    Autonomous taxis already exist: you tell the driver to go the shortest or quickest way, and the driver almost always ignores you and chooses the least direct, more gridlocked route instead, all by himself

    Also, you don't have to drive the taxi yourself.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  3. Re:I'm waiting for autonomous taxis being everywhe by hawkinspeter · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't look at the CCTV cameras in Milton Keynes. You could get stoned.

    --
    You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
  4. Re:What are they really saying? by Chrisq · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...The mathematician is the most correct in that the statement is based on exactly what he saw. Only one field and only one side of each sheep.

    If he were a Scottish mathematician he would certainly have seen the rear end of the sheep too.

    not just seen it!