FORD TESTS AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN WINTER WEATHER
Ford recently announced that they are the first automaker to test fully autonomous vehicles in winter weather, including snow – a major step toward fully autonomous driving. Inclement weather, and in particular snow, has proven to be an issue for autonomous vehicles as the vehicles learn to process surrounding environments obscured by weather conditions. Ford’s fully autonomous vehicles use high-resolution 3D mapping and LiDAR for localization to facilitate driving when road markings are not visible. Winter weather testing strengthens Ford leadership in autonomous vehicle development, building on recent news of the company’s expansion of its fully autonomous vehicle fleet – now the largest of all automakers.