Ford and DJI have launched the DJI Developer Challenge as a call to industry to create a drone-to-vehicle communications solution that utilises the Ford SYNC AppLink or OpenXC.
The goal is a surveying system for the United Nations Development Program that will allow first responders to inspect and map emergency zones inaccessible to vehicles following events such as earthquakes or tsunamis from the cab of an F-150.
Applicants to the challenge are being tasked with creating a system to enable users in a Ford F-150 to communicate with a UAV in real time.
The F-150 will effectively act as the drone base station. Using the Ford SYNC 3 touch screen, the driver could identify a target area and launch a drone by accessing an app projected through Ford SYNC AppLink. The drone would follow a flight path over the zone, capturing video and creating a map with associated close-up pictures.
Using the driver’s smartphone, the F-150 would establish a real-time link between the drone, the truck and the cloud, so vehicle data can be shared. Data will be relayed to the drone so the driver can continue to a new destination, and the drone will catch up and dock with the truck.
In future Ford believes the technology could have future application in wider industry, such as agriculture, forestry, construction, bridge inspection, and search and rescue.
Ken Washington, vice president, research and advanced engineering, Ford, said: ‘At Ford, we are driving innovation in every part of our business to help make people’s lives better. 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.’
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