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Are the lights about to go out for headlamps? Ford's self-driving cars can navigate winding roads in total darkness

Ford has been testing its self-driving cars on roads in the desert at night
They use infrared laser technology to help them navigate without lights
Scans of the car's surroundings as it drives are combined with 3D maps
The technology could lead to an end to vehicle headlights on roads

Published: 05:39 EST, 11 April 2016 | Updated: 07:33 EST, 11 April 2016

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The unmistakable glare of car headlights cutting through the darkness on roads at night could soon vanish thanks to new self-driving technology.

Car giant Ford has revealed it is testing the ability of its autonomous vehicles to navigate in pitch black conditions without any headlights.

The cars use laser sensing technology, called LiDAR, to map the vehicles' surroundings with infrared light, allowing them to steer along even the most winding country roads.

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Ford has tested its self-driving cars on winding country roads in pitch darkness to show that the vehicles can navigate at night without any headlights. The vehicle uses infrared lasers that scan the surrounding environment with a grid (pictured) to help the car stay within the markings even in the dead of the night

Ford said it is essential its self-driving vehicles are able to stay on the road at times of the day when they are not able to use its camera technology as there is not enough light.

Usually Ford's driverless cars use three separate sensing technologies – radar, cameras and LiDAR – which work with its virtual driver software to steer the car on the roads.

But the company said the cars can also work using just LiDAR when driving on country roads at night.

It could mean the light pollution caused by car headlights at night will become a thing of the past as autonomous vehicles become more common on the roads.

Jim McBride, Ford's technical leader for autonomous vehicles, said: 'Thanks to LiDAR, the test cars aren't reliant on the sun shining, nor cameras detecting painted white lines on the asphalt.

The self-driving technology could mean the glare of headlights from passing cars could become a thing of the past. Ford tested its technology at its Proving Ground in Arizona (pictured)

The LiDAR system (pictured) uses infrared lasers to scan the surrounding area. Normally it would work with the camera and radar systems also on board, but the tests have shown it can work without the camera

'In fact, LiDAR allows autonomous cars to drive just as well in the dark as they do in the light of day.'

In the United Kingdom, around 40 per cent of collisions occur during the hours of darkness, while in the US more than 40 per cent of fatal accidents occur at night.

To test its technology Ford took its Fusion Hybrid autonomous research vehicle out into the desert at its Arizona Proving Ground.

The headlights were turned off and all internal lights in the car were covered using black cloth and tape.

Ford tested the ability to drive at night without headlights in a Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle (pictured). The headlights were turned off and all internal lights were covered using black cloth and tape

Ford engineers wore night vision goggles (pictured) to help them monitor the vehicle's progress from inside as it drove by itself around the testing ground. They found the car was able to stay safely on the road even without headlights

A LiDAR system mounted on the roof sends out 2.8 million laser beams pulses a second in a grid that maps the surrounding area in real-time and this is added to additional information from the radar.

This is then combined to high-resolution 3D maps used by the cars which help it determine where the road goes, the surrounding topography and landmarks.

During the test, Ford engineers wore night-vision goggles to allow them to monitor the vehicle as it drove around the test road.

The desert in Arizona is plunged into almost total darkness at night, meaning all of the staff involved in the tests needed night vision googles to allow them to see what was going on (pictured)

The car combines the real-time maps it creates from scanning its surroundings with high-resolution 3D maps and radar information to help it stay on the right path in the dark (pictured)

Wayne Williams, a Ford research scientists and engineer, rode in the car to monitor its progress.

He said: 'Inside the car, I could feel it moving, but when I looked out the window, I only saw darkness.

'As I rode in the back seat, I was following the car's progression in real time using computer monitoring. Sure enough, it stayed precisely on track along those winding roads.'

THE SELF-DRIVING CAR THAT CAN NAVIGATE THROUGH A BLIZZARD

Ford is developing a vehicle that can tackle even the most treacherous of snowy conditions.

The Detroit-based auto manufacturer claims to be the first to test fully-autonomous vehicles in winter weather.

It has revealed tests that show one of its vehicles driving safely round slippery corners as a flurry of snowflakes surround it.

The car uses a combination of 3D maps and LiDar technology to 'see' road markings obscured by drifts of snow, while safety features like traction control help too keep it from losing control.

Snow can provide a particular challenge to self-driving vehicles as the falling flakes can reflect the infrared lasers used to map the surrounds and disrupt radar.

It also makes it harder for the image recognition software to use on-board cameras as snow can obscure road markings and cover other landmarks like road signs.

Fully autonomous driving cannot rely on GPS, because it is only accurate to a few yards.

To overcome this problem, experts from Ford and the university equipped a Fusion Hybrid with high-resolution 3D maps.

Features including road markings, signs, geography, landmarks and topography are recorded by a mapping vehicle in the first instance.

When a test vehicle cannot see the ground, because it is covered in snow, it relies on landmarks from the maps to help it navigate and stay on the road.