WATCH: Ray the Robot makes new Ford Ranger and Everest safer

At Ford’s Proving Ground in Australia, Ray, Rosie and Roberto are integral members of Ford’s safety team. They help to develop the very latest in crash protection features and advanced driver assist systems in the new Ford Ranger and Everest that enable owners to drive with more confidence on the road.

This cutting-edge robotic trio are tasked with helping Ford test driver assist systems, like pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping aids, evasive steer assist, reverse brake assisti and more.

Each robot plays a crucial part in advanced driver assist systems testing. Rosie is a Guided Soft Target (GST) vehicle, Ray is a Vulnerable Road User (VRU) and Roberto is an in-car driving robot. The robots ensure next-gen Ford Ranger and Everests advanced driver assist systems (ADAS)i can handle a multitude of scenarios involving other road users, including vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

“Having our three robots means we can now run the full gamut of ADASi scenarios, everything from nose-to-tail, offset, intersections, pedestrians, cyclists and more, in less time,” said Chet Yakupitiyage, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) attribute engineer. “We can also run more tests on any given day or night and with more real-world accuracy than ever before.”

Ford ADAS engineers used to rely on towed soft targets to test and tune systems like pre-collision assist with AEB but driver error and even weather conditions could cause inconsistencies in tests and stretch out testing programmes. Ford’s three robots ensure a broader range of ADAS tests can be replicated with centimetre precision at day or night.

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Rosie and Ray robots have the ability to be precisely synchronised with a test vehicle, whether it’s being operated by a robot driver (Roberto) or a human, allowing for complex ADASi scenarios to be created.

When fitted with a full-sized soft target, Rosie (the GST robot) carries the same radar signature as a real car. This allows the ADAS team to perform a variety of real-world tests to ensure systems like pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking work correctly.

To ensure accurate coordination with Rosie and Ray, Ford’s in-car driving robot Roberto, equipped with sophisticated motion control technologies, is fitted to the test vehicle to control the steering, brakes, and accelerator. For additional safety on-site, an engineer remains in the driver’s seat to take control of the test vehicle if needed, while another engineer keeps a watchful eye on either Ray or Rosie and can take manual control if required.

Similarly, Ray, the Vulnerable Road User with Launch Pad, allows the team to test for a variety of pedestrian, children and cyclist scenarios at both day and night.

More than 150 computer-aided engineering next-gen Everest and Ranger models were built and analysed, each looking at crash scenarios as diverse as frontal offset, rear impact, and side impacts.

Also, dozens of occupant impact scenarios were carried out to ensure the protection of a wide range of occupant statures (adults and children), as well as low-speed crashes, the kind you might experience in a car park, to determine the repairability of minor components.

Customer availability for the new Ford Everest is expected to be announced during its local media launch at the end of September, with the new Ford Ranger expected to follow later in 2022. For more information, visit the manufacturer’s website.