Who says that an old dog can’t learn new tricks? The 1965 Ford Mustang may be 53 years old, but thanks to Siemens, this iconic Mustang is about to show off that it can live in the future.
Siemens has created this one-off 1965 Ford Mustang. On the outside it looks pretty close to what rolled off the production line back in 1965, but underneath the skin, Siemens has added the latest autonomous driving technology to give it the ability to drive on its own.
Siemens 1965 Ford Mustang will show if it can actually drive without any human interaction later this week, since a team from Siemens and the UK’s Cranfield University will attempt to have the Mustang compete in the Hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
“With the help of the engineers and students of Cranfield University, we are bringing together the proud heritage of the automotive industry with its future – autonomous driving,” said Juergen Maier, CEO of Siemens UK.
To add the autonomous driving technology to the 1965 Mustang the team had several challenges. The team’s biggest challenge was to be able to fully integrate the vehicle’s mechatronics system so that it will be able to manage the braking, steering, and acceleration. The team called out difficulties with the extra play in the steering wheel and the performance of the old school drum brakes. “The autonomous control system has to cope with all of this variability,” explains automotive engineer James Brighton from Cranfield University.
Source: Siemens
