One of the big challenges for the auto industry is creating a driverless car that can respond to real road conditions, whether it be black ice or a glaring sun that makes it difficult to read traffic lights. Thus, the need for testing grounds.
In Ann Arbor, there's a secretive testing grounds called Mcity that is run by the University of Michigan's Mobility Transformation Center and is used by Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and the auto parts suppliers Bosch and Delphi, The New York Times reports. It opened in 2015.
Now, in nearby Ypsilanti, the University of Michigan is a partner is creating a much more complex site with longer stretches of road to test highway driving, the Times reports.
Neal Boudette of The Tmes writes this about the Ann Arbor facility:
Here in this college town 40 miles west of Detroit, behind black sheeting attached to an eight-foot-tall chain-link fence, the future of the auto industry is being worked out in a secret setting.
The fence surrounds a testing center called Mcity — a 32-acre patch of land that aims to recreate Anywhere, U.S.A., complete with simulated city streets and intersections. Within its borders are 13 types of traffic lights, storefronts, road signs, parking meters and a tunnel. A railroad crossing will be added soon.
Mcity is one of a half-dozen or so testing grounds for autonomous vehicles in the world as automakers and technology companies engage in a heated competition to create the perfect self-driving car — and to keep their competitors from knowing how they are doing it.
In Ypsilanti, U-M is a partner in a site under development called the American Center for Mobility. General Motors' Willow Run facility had been there.
It'll be much bigger than Ann Arbor; 335 acres, to provide long stretches of road to test highway driving.
There are other test facilities. In California, a former military base has been converted into a 2,100 acre testing site called GoMentum Station, where Honda is testing driverless cars, the Times reports.
