A firm that makes LIDAR sensors; the acquisition of SAIPS, an Israeli company that makes computer vision and machine learning software; an exclusive licensing agreement with “virtual retina” technology company Nirenberg Neuroscience, LLC; and a previously announced investment in 3D-mapping company Civil Maps to get there, Ford is working with a number of startups, including a new investment in Velodyne.

Year the company is also expanding its research and innovation center in Palo Alto and plans to double the size of its team there by the end of next.
http://thetechlicense.com/2016/08/ford-will-build-autonomous-car/
Ford executives said the company wasn’t at the stage where it could show a vehicle, or talk about what even that vehicle might look like. Instead, it’s focused on getting the hardware and software ready for a car that is driverless.[url]http://thetechlicense.com/2016/08/ford-will-build-autonomous-car/[url][/url][/url]

The goal is to build a vehicle to the SAE Level 4 standard of automation. This would give the motor car the ability to handle all aspects of driving, although limited to certain approved areas or regions. A car could be restricted to only the island of Manhattan, or to take certain approved routes outside of Manhattan to get to the airport or Yankee Stadium.


“In a ride service, you could imagine that the environment that is defined area might be large enough to take a customer from a city center to an airport or a seaport,” said Ken Washington, Ford’s VP of Research and Advanced Engineering. “Depending on how much of that environment can you capture in your resolution that is high map you can define the area that you’re going to service with the vehicles.”