A new technology integrates functions such as Active Drive Assist, which allows hands-free driving. “The stress of long road trips remains a big problem for drivers around the world,” said Hau Thai-Tang, director of purchasing and product development at Ford. “By introducing driver assistance technologies like Active Drive Assist, we are enabling our customers to feel more secure behind the wheel.”
Active Drive Assist is the next evolution of Ford Co-Pilot360 ™ Adaptive Lane Centering Smart Cruise Control, adding for the first time a hands-free mode with the potential for more enhancements in the future.
Hands-free mode allows drivers to drive their hands off the wheel on certain previously mapped sections of freeways, to continue to pay attention to the road ahead, giving them an added level of comfort during long trips.
An advanced, driver-facing infrared camera will track your gaze and head position to ensure drivers pay attention to the road while in hands-free mode and in practical lane-centering mode, which works on any highway with lane lines. Drivers will be notified via visual cues on their instrument cluster when they need to turn their attention back to the road or regain control of the vehicle.
“Introducing Active Drive Assist with a driver-oriented camera makes perfect sense because the vehicle helps relieve stress and burden while driving, but still gives you complete control,” Thai-Tang said. “And if you lose focus on the road, it will automatically warn and potentially slow the vehicle down until you’re ready to focus again.”
The preparation package also includes Active Park Assist 2.0, the latest version of parking assist technologies to give drivers some peace of mind when parking. Pressing a button will allow the vehicle to take control of parking in parallel and perpendicular spaces with ease. It also offers Park Out Assist with side-sensing capabilities so drivers can safely drive out of a parking spot when someone parks too close.
Safe driving technology
The standard Ford Mustang Mach-E Ford Co-Pilot360 2.0 package includes two enhancements to Ford’s lane maintenance system: road edge detection and blind spot assistance.
Road edge detection can increase driving confidence in rural areas by detecting the edges of a lane with visible lines or roads with a clear edge, such as grass or dirt. Technology can alert the driver if the vehicle is starting to drift out of lane or off the road. Blind Spot Assist identifies vehicles in a blind spot with a light on the side view mirror, and then applies a slight movement to the vehicle’s steering system to help provide caution against unsafe action.
Upgraded lane keeping system joins automatic high beam headlights, blind spot information system with cross traffic alert, pre-crash assistance with automatic emergency braking, post-crash braking, rear view camera, reverse brake assist and reverse detection system as integrated technologies.
In this package, a novelty is offered in Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop and Go, which reduces a vehicle’s speed depending on traffic conditions, stopping the vehicle before triggering it again when traffic begins to move forward.
Intersection Assist employs camera and radar sensor technology used by pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking to detect oncoming traffic when attempting to turn. If there is a risk of a possible collision with a vehicle it can alert the driver and brake automatically.
The technology has been tested in snow, rain, bright sun, dark nights, traffic jams, and open roads over hundreds of thousands of kilometers in the US, Canada, and Europe, in a I try to expose the sensors to a variety of extreme and specific scenarios, or gray areas, so that the technology is so prepared to handle the various real-world conditions that drivers face on a daily basis.
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