Ford has applied for a patent that would send a drone to dock with an autonomous vehicle and act as a surrogate sensor if one of the car’s sensors failed. The UAV then uses its own sensors to guide the car to a repair facility.
A UAV docks with a car. (Diagram: Ford’s patent application)
The filing from Ford Global Technologies, a subsidiary that manages and commercializes patents and copyrights, outlines the process.
Once the vehicle registers a fault in one of its sensors, it uses a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network to summon the drone, which flies to the vehicle, receives authorization, and then lands atop it. The UAV then serves as a replacement sensor while directing the vehicle to a nearby repair center to fix the car’s sensor.
Ford developed the technology to aid autonomous vehicles that have lost a critical navigation sensor; autonomous cars use GNSS, short- and long-range radar, lidar, cameras and ultrasound.
