Velodyne Lidar and Ford Otosan announce Autonomous Driving collaboration
Velodyne Lidar has announced it is collaborating with Ford Otosan on product development and testing of autonomous heavy commercial trucks.
Ford Otosan is testing and planning to use Velodyne Velarray H800 lidar sensors to enable safe navigation and collision avoidance in next generation vehicles.
Velarray H800 is a powerful solution that can greatly improve automated safety and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Designed for automotive-grade performance and durability, the Velarray H800’s compact, embeddable form factor makes it ideal for seamless integration in internal and external vehicle mounting locations.
The Velarray H800 boasts outstanding range, field of view and resolution to deliver rich point cloud density required for high resolution mapping and object classification tasks. The sensor will help Ford Otosan to create superior autonomous driving technology, addressing edge-cases for driving situations, including curvy roads, potholes, intersections, on/off ramps, residential areas and roadways with unclear lane markings. It delivers high performance during daylight and at night, enabling the detection of vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and more.
Ford Otosan is already using Velodyne’s Alpha Prime™ lidar sensors, which provide 360-degree surround-view perception technology to support autonomous mobility. The Alpha Prime is specifically made for autonomous driving in complex conditions for travel up to highway speeds. The combined range, resolution and field of view in one sensor is designed to enable autonomous vehicles and ADAS in a wide variety of lighting conditions.
“Autonomous vehicle technology, powered by lidar, can bring multiple efficiency and safety benefits to the trucking industry,” said Burak Gökçelik, Assistant General Manager, Ford Otosan. “Our autonomous driving initiative with Velodyne looks to improve roadway safety by helping trucks understand and react to approaching road conditions and surroundings.”
“Ford Otosan has well established commercial vehicle leadership in Europe and they act as the global engineering center for Ford Motor Company’s heavy commercial vehicles,” said Erich Smidt, Executive Director Europe, Velodyne Lidar. “We look forward to cooperating with Ford Otosan on autonomous driving development and learning from their use of the Velarray H800 in the trucking market.”
