Ford engineers have developed the industry’s first robotic test-driving program to meet demands that Ford trucks undergo ever more strenuous Built Ford Tough testing with greater frequency.Dave Payne, manager of vehicle development operations, says that “some of the tests we do on our commercial trucks for North America are so strenuous that we limit the exposure time for human drivers. The challenge is completing testing to meet vehicle development time lines while keeping our drivers comfortables”.”Robotic testing allows us to do both. We accelerate durability testing while simultaneously increasing the productivity of our other programs by redeploying drivers to those areas, such as noise level and vehicle dynamics testing” he says.All Ford trucks in the United States must pass this series of durability tests before being certified for customer use.The robots also allow Ford to continue developing ever tougher durability tests in order to build trucks that withstand the wildest drives on the roughest terrain. Ford engineers worked with Autonomous Solutions Inc. to design and manufacture the software and components that enable the autonomous, robotic operation of the test vehicle.Mel Torrie, CEO of Autonomous Solutions Inc., says “we’re very excited to work with Ford for autonomous vehicle testing. The reliability, durability and performance enhancements we’ve developed with Ford will not only help them reach their safety and accuracy goals, but will also improve vehicle automation in other areas such as mining, agriculture and the U.S. military”.
