Vehicle-to-vehicle communications is currently the main focus of the Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering division of Ford, who announced today that the research into the project had been accelerated to make these technologies available as soon as possible.
The car maker has created a 20-people task force which will be in charge with the research, backed by an increased funding provided by Ford.
Ford's approach to the problem is the use of advanced Wi-Fi signals on a secured channel made available by the Federal Communications Commission. Using Wi-Fi allows Ford to cover an area which spans 360 degrees around the car, compared to the frontal coverage offered by similar radar based systems.
The plan is to use these technologies to give the drivers an advanced heads up about any danger which lies ahead, for instance. The applicability of such a system expands, however, well beyond that.
“While there are challenges ahead, the foundation of these smarter vehicles is advanced versions of technologies that are pervasive – Wi-Fi and crash avoidance systems that Ford has pioneered in mainstream vehicles today,” said Paul Mascarenas, Ford CTO.
“Intelligent vehicles could help warn drivers of numerous potential dangers such as a car running a red light but blocked from the view of a driver properly entering the intersection.”
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