Ford partners with MIT for innovative mobility research

Ford Motor Company has partnered with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on an innovative mobility-on-demand research project.

The project aims to use cameras and LiDAR sensors to measure how pedestrians move in urban areas to improve certain public transportation services, such as ride-hailing and point-to-point shuttles services.

A fleet of on-demand electric vehicle shuttles will be introduced on both city roads and campus walkways on the university’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus. The shuttles will use cameras and LiDAR sensors to measure pedestrian flow and predict demand, allowing drivers to route the shuttles toward areas with the highest demand.

Ken Washington, vice president of research and advanced engineering at Ford, said: “The onboard sensors and cameras gather pedestrian data to estimate the flow of foot traffic. This helps us develop efficient algorithms that bring together relevant data. It improves mobility-on-demand services, and aids ongoing pedestrian detection and mapping efforts for autonomous vehicle research.”

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