If one needs to subject trucks to a grueling durability test on the toughest test tracks available, then it will be wiser not to submit human drivers to this spine-breaking task. Ford's answer is to send in the robots.
While the durability test runs will be useful for product development and consumer satisfaction, the gruesome road condition of potholes, curbs, and other impediments is just too extreme for the human body. Ford's idea of using robots for these test runs were first rejected by the human drivers but eventually embraced as the routes got meaner.
"Some routes always had a limited amount of time drivers could spend on them. There are three routes we don't let drivers go on at all anymore. It was too hard on them," said manager of vehicle development operations Dave Payne in an interview with USA Today.
"This is the world's first auto application of automated driving for durability," Payne added.
According to a report on New York Times, the robotic system that drives the vehicle was developed by Ford in collaboration with Utah-based company Autonomous Solutions. The technology relies heavily on global positioning sensors.
The system is like GPS on steroids. It taps the same satellites that enable smartphones to locate places but far more accurate. It can bring the truck to less than an inch along the line of its plotted course. It is likened to the technology that helps airplanes land.
When autonomous durability testing using robotic systems was approved, Ford engineers mapped out the proving grounds and created sets of instructions to control every aspect of the vehicle.
The first Ford production vehicle to use the robotics systems during testing is the SuperDuty pickup due as a 2015 model year. It is also being used by the manufacturer to test the new versions of the Ford Fiesta, Fusion, Expedition, Explorer, and F-150.
The robotics also helps complete the development tests quicker as it can run continuously for 11.5 hours and rack in 150,000 miles in just three months. Human drivers are limited to five hours during a day's shift.
"Robotic testing allows us to do both. We accelerate durability testing while simultaneously increasing the productivity of our other programs by redeploying drivers to those areas, such as noise level and vehicle dynamics testing," Payne said in a press statement.
Ford spends less than $100,000 to set up the robotics automated driving system in a vehicle. Technicians control the test vehicles from a base using a gaming steering wheel.
Chrysler has also tried robotics in 1995 and has poured in $9 million dollars for its automated durability road. The system was setup to run a three-lane course but was later dropped because professional drivers were found to be more efficient.
Ford's robotics might not be a new idea but the new execution saves human drivers from some time in physical therapy.
See how the system performs during a test run:
