By Anita Lienert, Correspondent | Published Jun 27, 2012
- Ford on Tuesday announced it is working on more automated features for its future vehicles, including a hands-free perpendicular parking feature.
- Another innovation is Traffic Jam Assist, which helps a vehicle keep pace with other vehicles in traffic and provides automated steering control.
- Company officials did not say which vehicles would get the new technologies, how much they'll cost or what the specific timetable is for a rollout.
Ford did not say which of its vehicles would get the new technologies, how much they might add to the price of a vehicle nor what the timetable could be for a rollout of the new systems. However, officials did indicate that the perpendicular parking feature (which builds on the company's current active park assist that enables parallel parking without touching the steering wheel), would be available in the "near" term.
Both technologies are designed "to reduce driver stress and reduce gridlock," said Ford in a statement.
Automated parallel parking, which first showed up a couple of years ago in such vehicles as the Lexus LS 460 and Toyota Prius, is on the way to becoming commonplace.
Ford said that its perpendicular parking system uses the vehicle's rear park distance control sensors to monitor for obstructions not seen by the driver when backing into a parking space.
"Where there is insufficient space to complete the maneuver in one attempt, the system might ask the driver to shift the vehicle into Drive and Reverse as necessary," the company notes. "Once the vehicle is perfectly positioned, the driver gets a finish signal."
The automaker's Traffic Jam Assist, another so-called "intelligent driving technology," uses radar and cameras to help a vehicle keep pace with other vehicles in traffic and provides automated steering control. Ford said such a system "can be overridden at any time.""
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