Borgman Ford Commercial’s primary goal is to provide you with the tools you need to best serve your customers. With the new year, Ford is looking ahead at what that could mean in the future.
Ford recently announced that they have partnered with DJI for the 2016 DJI Developer Challenge. Contestants are tasked with developing a drone that would communicate with a Ford F-150 in real time and land in the pick up bed.
Ford and DJI are doing this to help the UN locate survivors after a natural disaster, but the project also has huge potential for businesses. A Ford Vehicle and a drone working as a team could be used for construction, inspections, agriculture, forestry, surveying, and many other tough jobs.
In this latest article published on the Ford Media Center, Ford details their involvement with the DJI Developer Challenge and explores how this technology can save lives and make the world more efficient.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Ford and DJI are imagining a world in which vehicles and drones become more capable and efficient working together, and are announcing a challenge to develop the software to make that possible.
Working with DJI, the world leader in professional-grade drone systems and software, Ford invites innovators to participate in the DJI Developer Challenge to create drone-to-vehicle communications using Ford SYNC®AppLink or OpenXC. The goal is a surveying system for the United Nations Development Program to inspect emergency zones inaccessible to even the most versatile vehicles.
The technology could allow United Nations first responders to earthquakes or tsunamis to quickly deploy drones able to survey and map hardest-hit areas – all from the cab of an F-150.
“At Ford, we are driving innovation in every part of our business to help make people’s lives better,” said Ken Washington, Ford vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering. “Working with DJI and the United Nations, there is an opportunity to make a big difference with vehicles and drones working together for a common good.”
Though this challenge has a specific mission, the software eventually could allow drone-to-vehicle applications in agriculture, forestry, construction, bridge inspection, search and rescue, and many other work environments in which vehicles are space-, height- or terrain-limited.
To read the full article, Visit The Ford Media Center, or to learn more about the 2016 DJI Developer Challenge, visit their website at developer.dji.com.
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