Snow testing for autonomous Ford vehicles

The winter weather testing has been taking place in the company’s home state of Michigan, including Mcity – a 32-acre test site at the University of Michigan built specifically for autonomous vehicles. Here, winter temperatures average just a few degrees Celsius above freezing, with heavy snowfall common from December to February.

“It’s one thing for a car to drive itself in perfect weather,” said Jim McBride, Ford technical leader for autonomous vehicles. “It’s quite another to do so when the car’s sensors can’t see the road because it’s covered in snow. Weather isn’t perfect, and that’s why we’re testing autonomous vehicles in wintry conditions

In clear weather, most autonomous vehicles rely on LIDAR to identify their position. LIDAR uses short laser pulses that allow vehicles to create real-time, high-definition 3D images of their environment. In the snow however, LIDAR is unable to see the road, which significantly restricts its functionality.

To combat this, Ford’s autonomous vehicles are using high-resolution 3D maps that include road markings, signs, geography, landmarks and topography. The maps are created by the autonomous vehicles in clear weather, with features such as traffic signs, trees and buildings annotated along the journey. These features are then used to navigate in wintry conditions when the road itself is obscured from view.