Skip to main content

Ford invests in next-generation driver assist technology

In addition to the driver assistance systems already in use on its card, new technology being developed by Ford includes cross-traffic alert with braking technology to help reduce parking stress by detecting people and objects about to pass behind the vehicle, providing a warning to the driver and then automatically braking if the driver does not respond. Rear wide-view camera, on the in-car display, will offer an alternative wide-angle view of the rear of the vehicle. Enhanced active park assist will paral
November 4, 2016 Read time: 3 mins
In addition to the driver assistance systems already in use on its card, new technology being developed by 278 Ford includes cross-traffic alert with braking technology to help reduce parking stress by detecting people and objects about to pass behind the vehicle, providing a warning to the driver and then automatically braking if the driver does not respond. Rear wide-view camera, on the in-car display, will offer an alternative wide-angle view of the rear of the vehicle. Enhanced active park assist will parallel or perpendicular park at the push of a button.

Further technologies developed at the Ford European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany, include systems designed to help drivers steer around other vehicles to help avoid high speed collisions, and to warn drivers from travelling the wrong way down motorways.

These new technologies – expected to be first made available on Ford vehicles in the next two years, are part of the company’s commitment to triple its investment in developing driver assist features, to evolve them further and to expand their capabilities, speeding the roll-out of systems that make it easier to park and drive in heavy traffic, and help drivers avoid collisions.

Ford aims to take the stress out of parking with enhanced active park assist, which controls steering, gear selection and forward and reverse motion to facilitate parking at a push of a button. The system can automatically enter and exit a parallel parking space, and can reverse the vehicle into a perpendicular space. Enhanced active park assist also uses sensors to locate suitable parking spaces.

Cross traffic alert with braking uses radar sensors to monitor the area behind the vehicle. If the driver is backing out and does not react to the initial warning, the system is designed to automatically apply the brakes. The system is being designed to detect motorcycles and bicycles.

Rear wide-view camera displays a wide-angle view from the rear of the vehicle on the in-car display, to offer a similar functionality to Ford’s front wide view camera located at the front of the Ford Edge, Galaxy and S-MAX models. When reversing, it provides an additional view that enables drivers to see around corners as well as obstacles and objects approaching from behind the vehicle.

Ford also is developing new technology that could help drivers steer around stopped or slower vehicles to help avoid collisions.

Designed to operate at city and highway speeds, evasive steering assist uses radar and a camera to detect slower moving and stationary vehicles ahead and provides steering support to enable drivers to help avoid a vehicle if a collision is imminent. The system is activated if there is insufficient space to avoid a collision by braking only and the driver decides to take evasive action.

Ford is also developing technology that could help stop wrong-way driving − to warn drivers against entering the motorway from the wrong direction.

Wrong way alert uses a windscreen mounted camera and information from the car’s navigation system to provide drivers with audible and visual warnings when driving through two No Entry signs on a motorway ramp.

Traffic jam assist is a further technology previously announced by Ford, and expected to first arrive for customers within two years. The system assists the driver in keeping the vehicle centred in the lane and brakes and accelerates to keep pace with the vehicle in front

Longer term, Ford is also developing a camera-based advanced front lighting system that widens the headlight beam at junctions and roundabouts after interpreting traffic signs.

Related Content

  • November 28, 2013
    Roadside infrastructure key to in-vehicle deployment
    The implementation of in-vehicle systems will require multilateral cooperation, as Honda’s Sue Bai explains to Colin Sowman. Vehicle manufacturers will shape the future direction of in-vehicle ITS systems, but they can’t do it on their own. So to find out what they see on the horizon, and the obstacles they face, ITS International spoke to Sue Bai, principal engineer in the Automobile Technology Research Department with Honda R&D Americas. Not only does she play an important role in Honda’s US-based ITS
  • June 11, 2025
    La Trobe University trials connected motorcycle technology
    Melbourne academics' programme enhances riders’ awareness of hazards
  • January 20, 2012
    Sound synthesis makes hybrid and electric vehicles safer
    The growing popularity of hybrids and electric vehicles gives rise to new safety issues in urban environments, as many of the aural cues associated with engine noise can be missing. The solution is to intelligently make vehicles noisier. The rise in popularity of hybrids and Electric Vehicles (EVs) is a result of environmental pressures, shifts in taxation and emerging technologies for batteries and motors. Competition among the car manufacturers means these vehicles need to be cost effective to buy and ope
  • August 29, 2013
    Honda experiments with pedestrian and motorcycle safety
    Honda has demonstrated its experimental vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) and vehicle-to-motorcycle (V2M) technologies, aimed at reducing the potential for collisions between automobiles and pedestrians and between automobiles and motorcycles. The vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) technology uses a car equipped with dedicated short range communications (DSRC) technology to detect a pedestrian with a DSRC-enabled Smartphone and provides auditory and visual warnings to both the pedestrian and drivers. According to Ho