autonomous driving has been recognized as an essential capability for cars in the future. As for how to realize autonomous driving, the industry has two main technical routes.
One is self-disciplined autonomous driving, which relies on the collaborative cooperation of artificial intelligence , visual computing, radar , monitoring devices and global positioning system , allowing computers to automatically and safely operate motor vehicles without any active human operation; The other is coordinated autonomous driving, which realizes the Internet of Things through Wi-Fi and advanced communication technology, and enables data communication between vehicles and vehicles, and between vehicles and transportation facilities. After receiving the signal, the vehicle analyzes the traffic situation it will encounter, provides feedback and issues instructions to achieve autonomous driving.
To put it figuratively, self-disciplined autonomous driving pursues the ultimate goal of "being alone", while coordinated autonomous driving emphasizes the harmony of "university in the world". The dispute over this route is still an unsolved problem in the industry, and each manufacturer is making its own attempts and efforts. On the other hand, self-driving car casualties are increasing, and its social problems are bigger than thermal runaway of power batteries...
For the research and development of autonomous driving, Ford Motors has its own unique understanding. Recently, a new piece of good news came out from Ford - we may be one step closer to driving on the road without "waiting for lights." Following the launch of in Wuxi , Changsha and Guangzhou, Ford Motor announced the launch of its vehicle-road collaboration system in Xi'an, working with its partner NavInfo to help car owners solve the problem of "waiting for lights".
In fact, as the first vehicle company in the industry to apply vehicle-road collaboration system in mass production, many of Ford's models have been equipped with this "black technology" as standard. Its ultimate goal is to realize human-vehicle-city interconnection. Smart travel.
Ford’s black technology is launched, why is it in Xi’an this time?
In China, Xi'an is considered a big automobile city. Its car ownership has exceeded 4 million, ranking seventh in the country. In terms of digital construction of road transportation, Xi'an has also been leading the country. As of July 2021, Xi'an has completed the intelligentization of 1,341 intersection signals in the main urban area. Transformation.
Ford’s vehicle-road collaborative system has opened its first batch of nearly 100 intersections in Weiyang District and Yanta District of Xi’an
It is reported that this time Ford’s vehicle-road collaborative system has been launched in Xi’an, and its first batch has opened nearly 100 intersections in Weiyang District and Yanta District of Xi’an. . In the future, more intersection coverage will be achieved in Xi'an. Ford vehicles equipped with this function will be able to connect to the local intelligent transportation system through OTA upgrade without adding any hardware, and experience the new experience brought by vehicle-road collaboration.
NavInfo is Ford’s partner in this initiative. As the leading domestic car city intelligent integration solution service provider, leveraging its advantages in high-precision maps, engines and big data platforms, NavInfo has implemented the smart transportation cloud control platform for Ford vehicles through its wholly-owned subsidiary Century Qualcomm Intelligent Transportation Cloud Control Platform. "Vehicle-road (signal lights and road information)-cloud (traffic cloud control platform)" two-way interconnection provides technical support.
Vehicle-road collaboration technology allows "real-time dialogue" between cars and roads, people, and vehicles
Vehicle-road collaboration technology is the basis of the coordinated autonomous driving we mentioned earlier. As an advanced vehicle wireless communication technology, it It enables data exchange between vehicles (V2V), vehicles and intelligent infrastructure (V2I), and vehicles and people (V2P) to achieve "real-time dialogue." Vehicle-road collaboration technology is like an upgrade package for vehicle sensors. It allows the vehicle to receive information about traffic changes on the road ahead and predict risks beyond the sensor's reception range. It can "see wider", "hear more", and even " Fortune-telling". In this way, congestion can be avoided, the risk of accidents and red light running can be reduced, thereby improving overall traffic efficiency.
It is worth mentioning that Ford is the first domestic car company to adopt the "vehicle-road-cloud" network model to realize the mass production application of vehicle-road collaboration technology. So far, it has iterated more than 200 times, and is rapidly deploying vehicle-road collaboration functions. There are obvious advantages in getting on the bus. Some other car companies, such as General Motors, SAIC, Geely , etc., all use short-distance direct connection communication modes to realize vehicle-road collaboration functions. At present, Ford's vehicle-road collaborative system has covered some road sections in Wuxi, Changsha, Guangzhou and Xi'an. With the advancement of intelligent transformation of urban roads in various places, the coverage of Ford's vehicle-road collaborative system is also constantly expanding.
As for the vehicle application of this technology, it is currently equipped on Ford's Ford EVOS, Edge PLUS, Explorer and other models. In April this year, the new generation of Mondeo was launched. The entire series is equipped with a vehicle-road collaboration system as standard. Car owners can upgrade iteratively through OTA without adding any hardware, and experience an increasingly wider range of interconnection of people, cars and cities. Smart travel.
All new-generation Mondeo series are equipped with vehicle-road collaborative technology. All new-generation Mondeo series are equipped with vehicle-road collaborative technology.
Six major functions solve the pain points of users.
It is not just as simple as navigation. Based on the communication mode of the existing 4G/5G cellular network, Ford Through the two-way data interconnection of "vehicle-road-cloud", the vehicle-road collaboration system can display the traffic light status of the intersection ahead, road infrastructure and other information very intuitively on the dashboard in the form of images and sounds. The traffic light status of the intersection ahead is synchronized in the car's map navigation.
Ford's six major vehicle-road collaboration functions effectively solve the "waiting for light" problem
Based on China's urban road conditions and car owners' driving habits, Ford China has developed six major vehicle-road collaboration functions, including traffic light signal push, green wave speed, and green light start reminder. , red light warning, road information broadcast, and electronic road signs , which can effectively improve the efficiency of intersection passing and reduce congestion.
Traffic light signal push
Specifically, we often encounter this situation when commuting to and from get off work in congestion. There are buses and other large vehicles ahead blocking the signal lights, so you cannot judge the traffic lights at the current intersection. If you don't go, you may have to wait for a minute or two if you miss a green light. Just follow the big car, and you are afraid of running a yellow light. The vehicle-road collaboration system can display the traffic light situation at the current intersection in real time to help you make predictions in advance - traffic light signal push can let the car owner know the intersection situation in advance before driving through the intersection, and cooperate with the system to provide green wave speed , try to avoid having to wait for lights when arriving at an intersection. In addition, many people are easily distracted when waiting for the light. green light starts to remind to easily solve the embarrassment of not starting in time. And red light running early warning reminds the car owner to slow down and brake in advance, so as to avoid the situation of suddenly braking after realizing that the light is red at the intersection.
As an intelligent configuration, Ford also gives car owners a high degree of control. Car owners can fully personalize settings such as sensitivity adjustment and turning on/off sound reminders based on personal driving habits.
We will "not wait for the light" when driving in the future
From the first technical verification in China in 2017, it will be officially used in mass-produced models in 2021. Currently, in addition to Mondeo, Ford's Ford EVOS, Edge PLUS, Explorer, etc. All models are equipped with this technology.
He Zhiqiang, senior director of Ford China Intelligent Connected Product Delivery, said: "We will continue to polish the product based on user feedback to make it more and more useful. We also expect more partners to join and work together to promote the vehicle-road collaboration system Large-scale commercial application. At the same time, with the integration of vehicle-road collaboration technology and advanced driving assistance system , and are even applied to L4 autonomous driving, the desire of 'not waiting for lights' will eventually become a reality."
lidar. The longest detection distance of is only about 500 meters, while products equipped with vehicle-road collaboration systems can detect road conditions several kilometers or even dozens or hundreds of kilometers away, and provide vehicles with the most timely assistance. Looking at the current situation in 2022, coordinated autonomous driving with vehicle-road collaboration may be the right path to achieve true autonomous driving.
Ford will work with partners to enable vehicle-road collaboration to cover more cities
Ford will gradually expand the application scope and application scenarios of the vehicle-road collaboration system
The large-scale commercial application of vehicle-road collaboration technology requires the cooperation of multiple parties. More and more cities are accelerating the construction of smart transportation. Ford China will gradually expand the application scope and application scenarios of the vehicle-road collaboration system, and equip more high-value models such as the new generation Mondeo with this technology to make smarter cars. Connected with smart roads and smart cities, it will draw a more intelligent and technological blueprint for future travel.
On the elevated road between the skyscrapers, cars kept a precise distance and a uniform speed, moving forward rapidly. People sit comfortably in cars, reading, chatting, or even drinking coffee, without having to operate the steering wheel in front of them at all. Perhaps in three to five years, this scene will no longer be science fiction, but will become part of our lives. daily life.
