Ford, MIT Project Uses LiDAR, Cameras, to Measure Pedestrian Traffic and Predict Demand for New, On-Demand Electric Shuttles
July 27 2016 - 12:01AM
Business Wire
- Ford Motor Company is collaborating
with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers on a
new, innovative mobility research project to improve demand
prediction models for mobility-on-demand services
- Project uses LiDAR sensors and
inexpensive cameras to route electric shuttles toward areas with
the highest demand based on data-driven models. The collaboration
also will help Ford and MIT demonstrate the algorithms and methods
to navigate densely crowded pedestrian areas
- Research plays a key role in supporting
Ford’s broader effort to change the way the world moves. Ford Smart
Mobility is the company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity,
mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data
and analytics
Ford Motor Company and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
are collaborating on a new research project that measures how
pedestrians move in urban areas to improve certain public
transportation services, such as ride-hailing and point-to-point
shuttles services.
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Ford Motor Company and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology are collaborating on a new research project
that measures how pedestrians move in urban areas to improve
certain public transportation services, such as ride-hailing and
point-to-point shuttles services. Above, Wally Wibowo and Justin
Miller in front of MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's
Neumann Hangar. (Photo: Business Wire)
The project will introduce a fleet of on-demand electric vehicle
shuttles that operate on both city roads and campus walkways on the
university’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus. The vehicles use
LiDAR sensors and cameras to measure pedestrian flow, which
ultimately helps predict demand for the shuttles. This, in turn,
helps researchers and drivers route shuttles toward areas with the
highest demand to better accommodate riders.
“The onboard sensors and cameras gather pedestrian data to
estimate the flow of foot traffic,” said Ken Washington, vice
president of Research and Advanced Engineering at Ford. “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.”
Using a high-tech lab
The MIT research is being conducted by the Aeronautics and
Astronautics Department’s Aerospace Controls Lab. ACL researches
topics related to autonomous systems and control design for
aircraft, spacecraft, and ground vehicles. Theoretical and
experimental research is pursued in such areas as estimation and
navigation, planning and learning under uncertainty, and vehicle
autonomy.
"Through the mobility-on-demand system being developed for MIT's
campus, ACL can investigate new planning and prediction algorithms
in a complex, but controlled, environment, while simultaneously
providing a testbed framework for researchers and a service to the
MIT community," said ACL director Professor Jonathan How.
Hailing a ride
Ford and MIT researchers plan to introduce the service to a
group of students and faculty beginning in September. This group
will use a mobile application to hail one of three electric urban
vehicles to their location and request to be dropped off at another
destination on campus.
The electric vehicles are small enough to be able to navigate
the campus’s sidewalks, while still leaving plenty of room for
traditional pedestrian traffic. Each is outfitted with weatherproof
enclosures that shield out inclement weather – a feature
particularly useful for New England’s punishing winters.
After requesting the shuttles via a smartphone app, MIT students
and faculty won’t be waiting long for their ride to arrive.
During the past five months, Ford and MIT have used LiDAR
sensors and cameras mounted to the vehicles to document pedestrian
flow between different points on campus. LiDAR is the most
efficient way to detect and localize objects from the environment
surrounding the shuttles. The technology is much more accurate than
GPS, emitting short pulses of laser light to precisely pinpoint the
vehicles’ location on a map and detect the movement of nearby
pedestrians and objects.
Using this data, researchers study the overall pattern of how
pedestrian traffic moves across campus, which helps the researchers
anticipate where the most demand for the shuttles will be at any
given moment. This allows the shuttles to be carefully
pre-positioned and routed to serve the MIT population as
efficiently as possible.
Researchers also take into account other factors that affect
pedestrian movement on MIT’s campus, such as varying weather
conditions, class schedules, and the dynamic habits of students and
professors across different semesters.
Applying learnings to mobility services and beyond
This collaboration further enhances Ford’s Dynamic Shuttle
project, which provides point-to-point shuttle rides to employees
requesting rides using a mobile application on its Dearborn,
Michigan, campus. The collaboration advances the ride-hailing
concept to new heights by examining the movement of pedestrians to
predict demand and reduce wait times for shuttles.
What's more, the algorithms and methods learned when navigating
densely crowded pedestrian areas using LiDAR will also strengthen
Ford’s autonomous and driver assist technologies as the company
continues develop autonomous vehicles.
The project is one of more than 30 mobility solutions university
research projects between Ford and universities in the U.S.,
Germany and China aimed at helping the company and academic world
better understand how to improve mobility for millions of people
globally.
University research partnerships are an important part of Ford’s
broader effort to change the way the world moves. Ford Smart
Mobility is the company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity,
mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data
and analytics.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company
based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 201,000 employees and 67
plants worldwide, the company’s core business includes designing,
manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing a full line of
Ford cars, trucks, SUVs and electrified vehicles, as well as
Lincoln luxury vehicles. At the same time, Ford is aggressively
pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, the
company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous
vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics. The
company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit
Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products
worldwide or Ford Motor Credit Company, visit
www.corporate.ford.com.
For news releases, related materials and
high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com.
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Ford Motor CompanyAngie
Kozleski313.323.1984akozlesk@ford.com
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