Ford denies its engineers are sleeping in autonomous cars

Ford Motor Co. has confirmed that it's pursuing complete vehicle autonomy as it advances the auto-driving technology over the next five years. As for a report that its engineers are snoozing behind the wheel while testing these vehicles? Let's just say that the report can give a little too much credit to the smooth curve Blue Oval.

The automaker is indeed looking for a vehicle so completely autonomous that the steering wheel and brakes and gas pedals will eventually be removed, placing it in the so-called level 4 range, as reported by Bloomberg News. Yet the company denies the statement that some Ford engineers fell asleep during the testing process because, well, they had nothing to do.

"The reports that Ford engineers were falling asleep when trying self-contained vehicles are inaccurate," the automaker said in a report sent by email to Autoblog. The company did not address Bloomberg's allegation that Ford installed bells, buzzers, and other things in the vehicle to make sure the engineers stayed awake. The manufacturer noted that "high levels of automation without full autonomy can provide a false sense of security and that it is a challenge for the driver to regain consciousness and control of the vehicle if a situation arises when The technology can not work. "

The company, which at the end of last year boasted 10 Ford Fusion hybrids with the first generation of standalone technology, said in December that it had planned to triple the size of this test fleet.

Most importantly, Ford earlier this month said it was spending $ 1 billion to take a majority stake in Pittsburgh-based Argo AI, artificial intelligence and the start-up of robotics, and transferred some of its employees to The company to give it a workforce of 200 per year end. And, it is safe to assume that each of these workers will be well awake at work.