Ford Is Testing Ways For Autonomous Vehicles To Communicate With Pedestrians in Urban Settings like Downtown Grand Rapids
Borgman Ford knows that many West Michigan drivers are at least curious about autonomous vehicles and the progress Ford is making toward bringing them to market. As these vehicles undergo more and more testing, we start to unearth some problems. Some of them are software bugs or mechanical flaws, and those are relatively easy to correct over time. It’s the social hurdles that will prove more difficult to overcome.
If you’ve ever driven through downtown Grand Rapids, you know exactly how important it is to communicate with pedestrians or other drivers – even non-verbally. The head-nod, the wave, or even just eye contact can signal a driver’s intent to others around them. How will autonomous vehicles do the same? Ford and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute are currently testing a solution: a series of lights mounted behind the windshield that flashes three easily-recognizable patterns to people around the vehicle. Read the rest of this entry »