Ford has picked a hybridised version of its Fusion mid-range saloon as the basis for a new self-driving test fleet and has been showing it off at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The cars are a lightly face-lifted version of the 2nd-generation Fusion hybrid and were also set to be shown at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. The Fusion is badged as a Mondeo is some markets.
The robot Fusion is packed full of new technology, including more processing power and two powerful new lidar sensors. These are sleeker in design and have a more targeted field of vision.
The twin sensors can track mobile and stationary objects around the vehicle better than the set-up with four sensors which was used before, said a spokesman for the Blue Oval.
Lidar works in a similar way to radar but uses infrared light instead of radio waves to scan the road ahead. The sensors feed information to the car's "brain" which is a high-end computer mounted in the boot.
The autonomous Fusion also gets its bearings from three cameras mounted on two rooftop racks. There is also a forward-facing camera mounted underneath the windscreen.
The Fusion's petrol-electric powertrain has also been tweaked to make the car more fuel-efficient than the previous edition which was converted to self-driving in 2013.
Ford has a fleet of 30 first-gen autonomous Fusions and plans to triple this number by adding the second-generation cars during this year. The new robot vehicles will go into action on public roads in Arizona, California and Michigan.
A human test driver must sit behind the wheel in order to intervene in potentially hazardous situations.
Ford says it aims to put a "high-volume" self-driving car into production by 2021. — dpa
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