Ford Opens New Silicon Valley Research Center to Drive Innovation in Connectivity, Mobility, Autonomous Vehicles
22 Gennaio 2015 - 7:00PM
Business Wire
- 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
- Ford forms research alliance with
Stanford, delivering Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle to
university engineers for next phase of testing
- 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
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.
Ford Motor CompanyAlan Hall, 313.337.9618ahall32@ford.comorEmily
Olin, 281.380.9661emily.olin@hkstrategies.com
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