Ford Tests Inter-Car-infrastructure Comm. Tech. on German Roads

Taipei, Aug. 10, 2012 (CENS)--Ford Motor of the U.S. recently announced having begun real-world testing of future technologies as part of a research program aimed to advance car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication in Europe.

“Car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communications represent the next major advancements in vehicle safety,” said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president, Ford Research and Innovation.

Experts believe roads can be made safer and traffic congestion reduced by using mobile communications technology to mutually link vehicles and with transport infrastructure. Engineers from Ford's European Research Centre in Aachen, Germany and simTD research project partners have until recently tested developmental technologies in a controlled environment, but will continue on public roads in and around Frankfurt.

Technologies being tested as part of the simTD research project include: Electronic Brake Light (which delivers message from lead vehicle to following vehicle in case of emergency braking even if incident occurs out-of-sight), Obstacle Warning system (enables a vehicle to inform road users of presence, position and type of potentially hazardous obstacles), Traffic Sign Assistant, which remains in continuous contact with traffic management centers to access up-to-date information on variable speed limits, temporary restrictions and diversions, as well as providing details of current and approaching permanent regulations as fixed speed limits and right of way), Public Traffic Management (provides exact traffic prognosis based on comprehensive information, and In-car internet access to enable reserving and paying for parking en-route.

Ford was the first carmaker in the U.S. to demonstrate intelligent vehicle communication technologies to the public, with a multi-city tour that began in 2010.