Ford brainier concept a step toward self-driving cars

Ford CEO Alan Mulally next to an electronically augmented S-Max concept car at the IFA show in Berlin.

(Credit: Ford Motor)

Ford Motor, trying to show off its electronics credentials, unveiled a new concept vehicle with technologies that Chief Executive Alan Mulally said will eventually lead to self-driving cars.

The concept car, a modified version of the compact S-Max that Ford revealed at the IFA electronics show in Berlin, has a variety of digital-era advancements:

• Vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology, a variation of Wi-Fi networking, that lets cars communicate directly to discover risks like a stopped vehicle around a blind curve.

• A system that uses radar and cameras to watch for pedestrians and apply the brakes if a collision is imminent.

• A parking assist technology that can park the car in either parallel or perpendicular parking spaces — and then unpark it afterward. The idea should be very popular in super-cramped European parking garages, Mulally said.

• A heart-rate monitor built into the seat that can record health information and, if authorized, share it with a doctor.

Such advancements are leading to the future of … [Read more]