-
Ford is opening the Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto to
accelerate its development of technologies and experiments in
connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and
big data
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Ford forms research alliance with Stanford, delivering Fusion Hybrid
Autonomous Research Vehicle to university engineers for next phase of
testing
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Dragos Maciuca, an experienced Silicon Valley engineer, joins Ford
from Apple to serve as senior technical leader at Research and
Innovation Center Palo Alto; additional hiring plans will support Ford
having one of the largest automotive research teams in Silicon Valley
Company Website:
http://corporate.ford.com/
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- (Business Wire)
Ford today opens the Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto, growing
its global research team and accelerating the company’s innovation in
connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big
data.
“At Ford, we view ourselves as both a mobility and an auto company, as
we drive innovation in every part of our business,” said Mark Fields,
Ford Motor Company president and CEO. “This new research center shows
Ford’s commitment to be part of the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem
– anticipating customers’ wants and needs, especially on connectivity,
mobility and autonomous vehicles. We are working to make these new
technologies accessible to everyone, not just luxury customers.”
The all-new Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto joins Ford’s global
network of research and innovation centers, including its location in
Dearborn, Michigan, which focuses on advanced electronics, human-machine
interface, materials science, big data and analytics; and Aachen,
Germany, which focuses on next-generation powertrain research,
driver-assist technologies and active safety systems.
With the new facility, Ford expects to have one of the largest
automotive manufacturer research centers in Silicon Valley by the end of
the year, with 125 researchers, engineers and scientists. Located in
Stanford Research Park, the facility also expands Ford’s physical
footprint – with further expansion planned in the near future. Ford
opened its first Silicon Valley office in 2012.
Leading the new research center is Dragos Maciuca, an engineer who joins
Ford from Apple with a background in consumer electronics, semiconductor
manufacturing, aerospace and automotive. As senior technical leader for
innovation, Maciuca brings extensive Silicon Valley experience advising
startups, developing and commercializing products, collaborating with
universities and leading cross-functional teams. Maciuca holds a Ph.D.
in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley and an
MBA from its Haas School of Business.
Experiments in motion
Earlier this month, the company introduced Ford
Smart Mobility at the 2015 International CES. It outlines Ford’s
plans to accelerate innovation in connectivity, mobility, autonomous
vehicles, customer experience and big data. The Palo Alto team plays a
critical role in research and development in these areas.
“Future mobility solutions will require fresh ideas and vigorous
collaboration between researchers inside Ford and with other technology
leaders outside the automotive industry,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice
president, Global Product Development and chief technical officer. “Our
Palo Alto research team will build on existing relationships with
universities and technology companies, and forge new ones to help us
create and apply the appropriate technology working together.”
At today’s opening event, Ford offered a sneak peek at some of its
projects in key areas, including:
- Connectivity: Ford is integrating with the Nest
application programming interface, targeting home energy and
emergency system management while on the road through a series of
research experiments. A vehicle communicates with the Nest Thermostat
to switch it to Auto-Away™ mode reducing energy use automatically when
homeowners leave. Once close to home, the vehicle sends an alert to
set the house thermostat to the preferred temperature. Nest Protect
can warn Ford SYNC® when home emergency notifications are
triggered. Ford is also working with Carnegie Mellon
University-Silicon Valley to develop improved embedded speech
recognition that supports more natural language. The system relies on
graphics processing unit computing – allowing for quicker, more
powerful processing. The new technology relies on more natural speech
patterns rather than a restricted set of commands to perform in-car
tasks such as hands-free phone dialing or requesting navigation.
- Mobility: As the next phase in Ford’s
Remote Repositioning mobility experiment, the Palo Alto team is
now testing the ability to drive vehicles located on Georgia Institute
of Technology’s campus in Atlanta from the Bay Area to prove out the
new technology. A person sitting in the Palo Alto laboratory can
access real-time video streamed over existing 4G/LTE technology to
drive golf carts thousands of miles away. This could help lead to more
affordable and effective ways to manage car-sharing initiatives, or
park vehicles remotely as a new form of valet parking.
- Autonomous vehicles: While Ford’s research and development in
autonomous vehicles is a global effort, including ongoing work with
University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the
Palo Alto team will expand collaboration with Stanford
University that kicked off in 2013. For this next phase of
research, Ford is contributing a Fusion Autonomous Research Vehicle to
the Stanford engineering program to begin testing the path
planning-and-prediction algorithms researchers have developed over the
past year. In addition, the Palo Alto team developed a virtual test
environment based on gaming software, called aDRIVE
(for Autonomous Driving Refined in Virtual Environments), that
will test algorithms such as traffic sign recognition in dynamic
driving situations. This allows for more aggressive time lines for
validating driving algorithms to prepare for on-road testing.
- Customer experience: Ford is testing an advanced human-machine
interface to better understand how customers prefer to control systems
with a significant amount of functionality – such as the high-tech,
multicontour seat. The seat features 10 adjustments plus two controls
for 11 inflatable air bladders that can be used for massage functions.
Ford is researching the most intuitive and effective way to control
the seat, including using natural language speech recognition and a
smartphone- or tablet-based interface.
- Big data and analytics: Ford is leveraging its OpenXC
platform to help learn how customers
are using their vehicles, and is conducting analytics to detect
patterns and learnings that can lead to product improvements or new
mobility services. In addition, Palo Alto-based engineers are
expanding their research to develop sensor kits to gather information
from bicycles
and other common forms of transportation in urban areas. The
devices gather data including wheel speed, acceleration and altitude.
The data could provide insight into how alternate modes of
transportation might be best positioned to serve future urban mobility
needs.
“Growing the Palo Alto team will strengthen our global research prowess
and drive innovation needed to meet the needs of our customers in the
future,” said Ken Washington, vice president, Ford Research and Advanced
Engineering. “Working together with the Silicon Valley research
community will spark the new ideas, products and services that will help
Ford once again change the way the world moves.”
The new Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto hopes to further
existing relationships between Ford and San Francisco Bay Area
technology companies and universities, as well as grow new connections,
scout new technologies and collaborate on solutions for future mobility
challenges.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford
Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in
Dearborn, Michigan, manufactures or distributes automobiles across six
continents. With about 189,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the
company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company
provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more
information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.
For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and
video, visit www.media.ford.com.
Contacts:
Ford Motor Company
Alan Hall, 313.337.9618
ahall32@ford.com
or
Emily
Olin, 281.380.9661
emily.olin@hkstrategies.com
Source: Ford Motor Company
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