Ford has launched a large project on Autonomous Vehicles in Miami

The photo is taken from the site https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article202331374.html

The Autonomous vehicle is only a part of a bigger complex. Americans are going to work out all sides of the implementation of such technology in life.

Ford has announced the start of autonomous vehicles tests in the county of Miami-Dade (in the cities of Miami and Miami Beach). It is not only about checking the drones themselves on the streets, but also about testing various services, analyzing the interaction of such machines with ordinary users.

The first project under this program has already been launched - this is the Dominos pizza delivery, which was briefly tested last year in Ann Arbor (Michigan). And in March, in Miami-Dade, the order delivery service started in cooperation with Postmates. These goods are also transported by Ford autonomous vehicles.

The authors of the project intend to clarify many issues. For example, ordinary drivers from delivery services often park their cars second row, blocking other cars. An autonomous vehicle should not break the rules. But what if there are no parking places near the house? How far is the customer ready to move away from the door to pick up an order? How attractive is an autonomous delivery compared to a normal one? What reefs can be found here?

In parallel with the development of services, the Ford team will conduct a major test of machine-robots in the loaded traffic. According to the research company Inrix, Miami ranks tenth in the world and fifth in the US regarding the traffic jams. Local road conditions and laws, the habits of the inhabitants - everything is important for the integration of the autonomous vehicles into the transport system of a particular city. Ford will cooperate with its partner Argo AI while working on this analysis.

“We are not so much as focused on the specific amount of cars on the road at this moment,” he said, “but are more focused on learning what implementing this type of technology in a city like Miami is like”, said Sherif Marakbi, Ford’s vice president for autonomous cars and electrification.

He stated that despite Miami’s notorious traffic, the Magic City was chosen over about nine competitors because of its weather, its variety of driving environments — from its densely packed downtown to its more residential exurbs — and the receptiveness of city officials to the new technology.

Having identified all the pros and cons of autonomous movement technology, the Ford team will be able to take the next step: to start providing such services on an ongoing basis. Of course, in partnership with various specialized companies. In theory, it can be both car sharing and autonomous taxis (cooperation with Lyft is useful here), and the already mentioned delivery of Internet orders to the houses.

These tasks will be performed by the autonomous fourth-level Fords. The company intends to put such cars on stream by 2021.  

The photo is taken from the site https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article202331374.html